Life's too Short
by Monokia
Summary: After the Queen dies during childbirth; Elsa raises her sister until an accident freezes their relationship. The King curses his youngest child and Elsa isolates herself to protect Anna. After years of running, can Elsa repair this rift that has grown between them? Or are the depths just to dark for either of them to pass? Elsanna, self-harm, violence, the good stuff really!
1. Introductions and Accidents

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm starting up a new story and I hope you like it. I want to try and create a more emotional piece and I hope your advice can direct me in the right path that I strive for. **

**So this is going to get a little depressing. Which is a first for me. There'll be a lot of other firsts in here for me in this story. I hope you enjoy, if so then leave a review.**

**Thank you!**

* * *

A little Elsa stole a glance out from behind her mother's dress and squealed in delight. Her father, the King, had momentarily rid himself of his royal countenance and adopted a jovial manner. The man stalked towards his daughter who was meanwhile racing circles around the Queen so she could avoid getting caught. When he thought that he had her, the Princess would turn around and run to the other side. After many minutes of this he wisely calculated a plan to catch his elusive daughter. The King feigned a lunge to the right sending the girl giggling and squealing the other direction. All he had to do was stay where he was; this was one of the few ways he had caught her before in the past, and as always, she fell for it by running right into his awaiting arms.

"I've got you," the King proclaimed as he caught her and twirled her high in the air, "now, it's time for your bedtime." His daughter dug her face into his shoulder which almost completely quieted the protest of disapproval she was voicing.

"Elsa, love, We'll see you tomorrow." A hand swept her unruly blond hair back into place and the girl peeked out with a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"I know…" she sighed ", PLEeeaaassseeee, can I say goodnight before I go to sleep?" she tilted her head winning her parents over instantly and the couple shared a smile.

"Of course,"

The restless princesses was returned to the ground and spun around and revealed her trademark heart-breaker smile.

"Goodnight Dad!"

"Goodnight my _Little_ Princess."

Elsa ran towards her mother and the girl wrapped her tiny arms around the Queen's leg in a tight bear-hug, "Goodnight Mom, Goodnight Sister!" She patted her mother's stomach and cooed at her soon-to-be friend inside. A hand joined her daughter and it's owner smiled with pride and love.

"I can't wait to see you!" Elsa cried out ecstatically.

"Time for bed, dear. You'll see your sister soon enough."

* * *

_I love you, with all my heart-_

_I miss you oh-so much._

_I wish I could have told that to her, if only just once more._

_Because all I know, is Life's too Short…_

* * *

It only went on for a few minutes; the screaming, the shouting, the crying. Elsa was crouched in the corner of the room with her hands wrapped around her tiny body. She shivered helpless against a self-conjured blizzard that covered her room in snow and ice. The noises grew more panicked and pained before it was eerily silent. The Princess preferred to have them back, anything than this silence that tugged harshly at her heart...

At last it was broken by a gentle cry, sweeter than the nightingale, but still harsh in it's newness. She peered towards the light in her door, not knowing for how long she waited until at last it was broken by a shadow. It contorted the light from underneath the other side of her door.

A sigh. A choked moan. A retreat of footsteps.

There were a couple of hushed voices as two maidservants passed the princesses quarters not long after.

Elsa crawled back to her bed and slept restlessly for the rest of the night.

* * *

_A Queen must always awake with the rising sun; it is simply not done to do otherwise. _

Elsa sprinted to her window and took in the view of the sun peaking up over the high city walls of Arendelle. The morning was a bit cool but it felt like a gentle kiss on her skin. The chill was like a gentle kind of warmth to her. A useful skill to have, for unlike many of maids and servants inside the castle at the moment, her body and breath housed the magic of ice and snow within her core. Anything above freezing was bound to feel hot to the little Princess.

People were just starting to wake up she noticed. Her gaze shifted forward to look across the Fjord and over the hills and mountains beyond. Her face was smashed up against the window as she watched curiously for a while. Satisfied, she finally withdrew herself away to get dressed for the morning. Her hair was pulled back in a loose braid that was quickly coming undone, she'd have to get mommy to fix it after breakfast.

It didn't take her much effort anymore, she had already memorized the layout of the castle floors- and even if she hadn't- she simple needed to follow her nose. She could smell the food being made but she also doubted very much that it was ready to be served yet. So instead, to pass the time, she took the long route that took her through the art gallery room of the castle. One of her favorites, Joan of Arc, was tacked onto the wall but something caught her eye. She quickly dismissed it. Without sparing a second glance, Elsa continued onward feeling a little bit unsettled now.

**_'Nothing could have happened last night. Everything's fine. Everything was normal.'_**

After reaching the dining room, Elsa looked around expectantly. It wasn't too unusual for no one to be there; however… Elsa grabbed her chair and pulled it backwards. She squirmed onto the chair from her stomach and turned around to sit herself upright. Her legs were still so small that they didn't quite reach the floor; so she swung her feet in the air as she waited.

Footsteps echoed at the chamber door and Elsa ducked in her chair and hid behind the tablecloth. Footsteps faded away and she jumped up in her chair as her eyes chased after the retreating figure.

'**What is it? Oh, it's a servant. That's unusually; why's he wearing black?'**

Only a few moments later there was a cart being wheeled in to set the table up for breakfast.

None of the people looked at Elsa, none spoke anything above a whisper, and they never returned an answer to any of her questions. They just withdrew as silently as they had come. To say the Princess was confused was an understatement, and she was about to give up on anyone giving her a straight answer before a regal figure strode into the room.

"Daddy!"

"Elsa," he smiled painfully before quickly masking his expression and looking away.

"What's wrong daddy, are you upset? Are you sad, Do you know where mo-" Elsa's voice cut off in shock. A tear slid down the King's cheek and soon a couple more joined them.

**'He was crying!'**

"My Princess, Elsa, she's gone." He watched her eyes turn to the floor. "She's not coming back."

Elsa barely understood what he meant, she was barely old enough to know. But she knew that the Queen was gone for good.

She would never see her anymore.

_All the paintings done of the queen were draped in mourning curtains._

_Her mother not being downstairs in time to tuck her into her chair._

_The black outfits all the servants and those working for the household started wearing._

_Her father crying._

_The screaming/ the panic/ the shouts from last night._

_No!_

"What about my sister." Her voice came out sounding a lot stronger than she felt.

"She's here. She is alright."

* * *

Elsa peered down into her orphaned sister's cradle. She smiled and formed a couple of giant snowflakes before tilting her hands, allowing them to spill over and out. They twirled and danced downwards. They started landing onto her sister, most of them melting at first contact to the newborn's warmth, but one stuck to the little Princess's nose making her sneeze. Brilliant sea-foam eyes opened to peer inquisitively up.

"Hi Anna!"

Baby babble met her response. Elsa crossed her arms and giggled.

Elsa reached down and took hold of the tiny hand that belonged to her sister; her sister squirmed uncomfortably against the cold that was her sister. "Anna," she whispered before she began to cry and withdrew her hand to wipe at the tears streaming down her face. "We only have each other, it's just you and me. What are we going to do?" She paused. Elsa knew the baby was too young to be able to talk to her, but that didn't mean she couldn't.

"I promise; I'll protect you. No matter what, nothing will harm you. I love you lots!" Elsa held up her arms and stretched her hands as far apart as they could go, showing just how much she loved her little sister.

Tired eyes blinked twice at Elsa before closing. After such a rough past few hours, she needed to catch up on a lot of sleep

The blond child crawled down off the side of the cradle and retreated to the door. She had just made a promise that she didn't know she couldn't keep, no matter how hard she tried. But the young queen would keep her promise as best as she could.

* * *

Anna grew up with the passing days. Their father, anguished from the loss of his lover, was never around for the rest of their childhood. He was never quite the same.

He was haunted from the passing of the late Queen. He hated himself for letting her die; he was bitter towards Anne for killing her. It was almost a blessing that he found himself distracted by doing the work the kingdom required; Anna wouldn't have been able to cope with his malice towards her accompanied by the loss of her sister. But that is going too far ahead.

"Elsa, wake up, wake up, Wake Up!" Little Anna was shaking Elsa awake way to early for any sane person's taste.

"Go back to sleep, Anna!" Elsa squinted her eyes and pretended to fall back to sleep. Her ploy was discovered and easily seen through by her little sister.

"I can't, the skies awake so-ooo I'm awake." Anna flopped onto Elsa theatrically," So we have-to-play!'

At this Elsa turned around and lightly shoved Anna off the bed. She flopped on the ground and the blond quickly resumed her position in the bed, "Go play by yourself." her voice tinkled lightly in mirth- showing that she was open for negotiation.

Anna took a moment to ponder the situation, Elsa would, every once in a while, respond in this way. And they both knew there was only one way to convince her to play at this late hour. It worked every time, it was fail proof.

"Do you wanna build a snowman!"

Elsa turned around and smiled mischievously.

* * *

The room was a mess. The snow had melted away into giant puddles which left the maids- one again- trying to guess what short of shenanigans conspired at twilight hours that could turn an entire floor into a pond. There were many rumors and guesses but none were close to actually hitting the truth.

"We have to leave; remember last time father walked in and caught us!"

Anna winced at the memory and nodded somberly. She glanced at the window and watched as the sun, just barely started to color the horizon, was rising to greet the new day. "Thank you Elsa! That was loads of fun. Oh, let's have a race!"

"A race?" Elsa questioned and smiled lightly.

**_'Oh, how much more adorable can my little sister possibly get?'_**

"Yep, A race. On three, Kay?" Elsa nodded and lined up to join her sister behind an imaginary starting line.

"Get ready….: Three!" Anna shot forward leaving behind a stunned Elsa.

"No fair, that's cheating." Elsa gasped quickly catching up to her sister.

"Is not."

"Is to!"

"Is Not! I said on three, so there."

Elsa let Anna win as she always did. They both reached their bedroom with Elsa only seconds behind her little sister. They both raced towards the bed; Anna jumped in first and her sister wasn't far behind tackling her down into the mattress. The younger sister laughed at the sudden assault on her sides and squirmed to get away. After a few moments they collapsed beside each other on the bed, gasping and giggling, before turning into each other.

"I love you."

"I love you more." Anna whispered and snuggled closer. She loved cuddling her sister, even if she was a bit cold.

"I love you most." the blond watched her little sister nod off until she was finally claimed by sleep. Elsa would have to be up soon, but not yet. She shifted her gaze over to watch the horizon play through it's colors as the sun neared the point of breaking the dawn. The North Mountain, just beyond the river-bend, overlooked the kingdom and even more distant places. Places she nor her sister had ever been to before.

Elsa wondered what the sunrise would look like from there.

* * *

"Anna what's wrong." Elsa asked concerned; she lightly ran her fingers through Anna's untamed red hair. Her sister only squeezed harder into the fabric of Elsa's dress and shook her head. She stood waited for a moment and petting the crown of Anna's hair. It was only when she had started to hum soothingly for a bit that Anna eventually let go.

"Daddy's angry at me again. There was a pi-g-g. And a b-b-oy… The ocean-" Anna started crying again and Elsa's eyes softened at once. Their father was always finding some reason or another to yell at Anna. It was different with Elsa though, he couldn't even look at her. He'd make a sound of a drowning man whenever he saw her and would turn around to retreat back his office.

Elsa was really beginning to look like her mother, especially when her hair was pulled up into the same style she had seen in all the portraits and paintings of her.

She wanted to look like the queen. Anna never got the chance to see her; she never got to spend time with the Qheen before she died, so Elsa tried to act, speak, and sound just like their mother did- in the same ways she remembered her mother did for her. It was like mom was their right beside her when she did so, and she left a bit of their mother for her sister each time.

She never acted her age anymore, she was in every sense of the word, a mother to Anna. Elsa doted on her little sister and in return was tailed closely by a bright and energetic red-haired girl.

"Anna, he might be a little frustrated, but he's not angry. He loves you and me lots, but he's just unsure on how to go about showing it." Anna nodded quietly. Elsa sighed once more and lightly rubbed her sister's shoulders to comfort her. After the little episode was done, she sent a very-exhausted Anna to bed and walked to the King's office.

_'Knock, knock, knock.'_

"Enter."

Her father was in his chair reading through several large books. He was distracted enough that he never saw Elsa enter the room. He didn't know she was even there until she spoke.

"You've been reading those damn books for far too long; your going to make yourself sick or senile, crazy old man."

"Sweety, we've been through this before, I kn-" His voice tapered off when he lifted his eyes and settled onto those of his daughter.

**'God, she even sounds like her.'**

"Anna's crying again. She's upset and thinks you hate her." Elsa paused and cleared her throat, "You should go see her, it would mean a lot to her..." her voice tapered off unsure on how to continue.

They stared silently at each other..

"Well, it would mean a lot to the both of us, really. I hardly get to see you anymore and I would love just a day with you to play around like we use to do."

Again silence. After a time he nodded and pulled away from his desk.

"Okay, l-little princess. I'm feeling tired, I could use a break from all this work." He walked forward towards Elsa and paused just before reaching her.

"Good, let's go see Anna and play in the hall. It'll be just like we did before, only with Anna. Anna and I still go there to play; we're careful when we do though, so we don't get caught."

"Of course, you've always been good at running away." the King smiled when he remembered how she would sprint away to avoid having to go to bed.

_Elsa was very good at running away._

* * *

So there her father stood smiling as he watched Elsa playing with Anna by using her magic. It was beautiful, she had grown so much in the past few years. He missed her more than he realized.

Anna was happy seeing her father, being able to play with him- although all he really did was stand out of the way and observe them run around in the snow.

Elsa had created a row of banks in front of her that Anna jumped onto. She sprinted up them and looked at her sister begging her to make some more when she reached the end of the line. Elsa smiled and created some more for her sister to jump to. Her smile slowly started to fade as the blond strained to keep up with her little sister's speed. Anna was now leaping out into open air and Elsa was left scrambling to get a snowy bank underneath to catch her before she fell.

"Anna," Elsa shouted out a warning, "Slow down, Anna, your going too fast! I can't keep up!"

"Anna!" Elsa called again.

Anna didn't even here her.

"Anna!" A voice boomed from behind both of them.

Elsa and Anna both flinched when they heard the tone of their father. It took Elsa but a moment to realize she hadn't created a snow pile for Anna to land on. Elsa saw her sister falling down in the air. She lunged forward calling up for more power than she had used ever before in the past, but as she lunged, she lost her footing on the ice.

_**'Sister!'**_

A sharp crackle of ice snapped in the air and blasted forward. It struck Anna and knocked her off her ill-begotten course and sent her tumbling down the side of a snow bank.

Elsa was already running before her father could even react. She reached down and cradled Anna's head in her hands and plopped down onto the ground right beside her.

"Thank God! You're okay! Right? Anna-Anna? Anna!" Elsa watched as a white strand form in-between a few strands of her sister's red hair.

Anna was unconscious and didn't hear the cries her sister made. The King approached Elsa and stood silently behind her, his mind seemed to freeze up. Elsa turned her eyes and focused on him through the tears.

"Help- please help her."

**"I know where to go."**

_There is great beauty in your power; but it is also dangerous._

_Lock the Gates, close the doors. She must learn to control it._

_Fear will be your enemy._

_I'm sorry Elsa, but your sister no longer remembers anything about you. _

_Your magic tried to change her, but it couldn't. She can't remember, and she mustn't._

_Sadness swirls within me like the snow._

_ I've frozen out the only friend I'll ever know._

_Conceal it, don't feel it. Don't let it show._

* * *

The King was royally angry. Now, it wasn't just one life Anna had ruined, but all of theirs. She not only almost got herself killed but Elsa, his little princess, was now locking herself away inside her bedroom. To keep her promise to her sister. To keep her sister safe; even from the magic inside of her that had never harmed anyone before in the past. Anna didn't have the right to make anyone more miserable, she would stay away from Elsa, she wouldn't destroy Elsa's life anymore.

* * *

Anna stood curiously in front of her sister's door.

'Is it normal to have never seen your older sister before?'

"Elsa?"

Silence.

She felt a familiar pang in her heart. The mind can be persuaded but the heart is not so easily changed.

"Do you want to build a snowman with me?"

**'Where did that come from. It's not like we could, there's no snow outside.'**

"Go Away Anna!"

**'Why did that hurt. Seriously, what was she expecting...? But for some reason it still hurt, she thought this was fail-proof. She was expecting something. Wait, why was she expecting something?'**

She removed her hand away from the door and smiled sadly.

"Okay, Bye."

And walked away. She would try again, and again. Each time feeling more frustrated than the last.

If she only stayed behind to listen.

She would hear Elsa's heart breaking over and over again. How each one of her innocent questions ripped away at her older sister's soul every time she asked them.

**"You were the first promise I broke."**


	2. Sharper than any Knife

Even when Anna didn't remember why she felt she needed to do so, she still visited Elsa's bedroom frequently. At first she tried to convince her sister to leave the bedroom, but when that didn't work, she started chatting about her day. She'd giggle and talk about the armored man she crashed into with her bike, how much she loved chocolate, and the newborn goslings she had seen swimming down by the water. The topics were kept whimsical and light, mostly because Anna wanted Elsa to come join her; if she talked about the horrible things that were happening to her, her sister might never come out.

The King ignored his youngest daughter and abandoned her completely; he submerged himself in his work so completely that he was to point of exhaustion. He only ever saw any of his daughters at the day, when he would eat dinner as the head of the family at the table. And it was only in that moment he'd see Elsa. She never sat at the table to eat meals with the family, but instead she would come down to thank the cooks for delivering her meals to her room. It was for barely a minute that she would stay, but Anna and her father both clung to this for it was the only time they ever saw her.

**She was very good at running away.**

It was at this moment that Elsa disappeared into the kitchen that Anna dared to take her chance.

"I'm not feeling hungry tonight, in fact, I'm feeling quite sick to my stomach. May I retire for the rest of the evening, Dad?" she asked. The girl glanced at her father but he didn't give any response or indication he had heard her question. After a few moment, she pushed away from the table and snuck away. She was launching a counter-strike, time to take this to the enemy. Elsa would only be distracted for a moment, leaving her not much time to slip in and start her secret mission.

Anna released the breath she had been holding when she found Elsa's bedroom door unlocked. This was the first time she had ever entered Elsa's bedroom; it was plain and clean; she supposed Elsa was just a neat-freak- it would explain the reason she was always wearing gloves anyway. The princess stood and thought desperately trying to figure out where she could hide without being caught. Actually, she wanted to be caught, but not too soon. She had to have her chance to talk to Elsa again.

Her options were limited.

* * *

"Thank you," Elsa said politely and reserved from outside the kitchen. The cooks took a moment to smile at the young woman standing in the doorway. All of them adored this sweet and gentle lady, they loved her years ago the moment they first met her.

"Of course, princess. It's no big deal."

"Did you eat it all? Look at you, your thinner than a twig." A scowl was settling upon her figure.

"It was no problem at all! The little chocolate that was on the side of your plate. Yep that was me, my treat!"

Elsa blushed down at the floor and began to retreat, she was too shy that she didn't know how to respond to the open affection they gave her. After leaving the kitchen she entered the dining hall, her eyes caught her father staring straight at her before he glanced away; she still felt hurt by that. He barely gave a nod as she walked out the door. The halls were silent like they always were, no other presence except her's echoed in light clicks through the wide stretch.

Elsa stopped just short of Anna's bedroom and smiled; her sister might not be in bed yet but she consistently performed this ritual- if only to appease her selfish desires.

_**'Goodnight,'** _she whispered silently and took off her glove to place her bare-hand against Anna's door. Eventually she turned around. Eventually she walked into her bedroom.

Elsa bedroom was mostly dark; only a few candles lit a path through her room to her bed. She scraped her nails against her duvet-covers and continued walking till she was in front of her wardrobe. She opened the doors with a heavy sigh and yanked her nightgown off it's hanger. Elsa retreated back to her bed and rested against it so she could slid her dress off and let it fall to the ground; Elsa changed clothes and dropped her spent outfit down the laundry-chute.

**'Where is it? Of course, there!'**

Her book was lying on its side by her nightstand and she grabbed it before crawling onto the bed. That's when she heard an unusual noise and froze.

_''Saaa-aaaa…."_

**'What the hell is that?'**

_"El-sssss-aaaaa."_

**'Was it coming from under her bed?'**

_"C-c-can't breathe!"_ something gasped out.

Elsa tore away from her mattress in a flash and ran across her bedroom floor. Her eyes never left her bed while she fumbled around blindly in search of the handle to her door.

_"Yay, I'm not dead."_ muffled cheers broke out from under her bed, "_Elsa, can you help me? I'm stuck."_

**'Anna!'**

"What are you doing under there?" Elsa asked. Her body froze and her hands trembled at her side.

"Wanted to talk to you, got stuck, need help." came a curt response to her question.

"Okay, I'll just-ummm. Lift the bed, one moment…" Elsa walked to the edge of her bed and lifted the frame up. It was heavy and barely yielded but it gave just enough to allow her sister to squirm her way out.

"Hi!" Anna shot up from off the ground and brushed imaginary dirt off her dress- Elsa was too much of a prim and proper princess to allow dirt and grime to collect down underneath her bed. After Anna patted herself down a few more times the little sister settled her eyes coyly up into those of her sister's.

Elsa stared and smiled softly, "Your beautiful."

"Your beautifuller! Whoops, I didn't mean fuller, but like more beautiful. I mean… Wait what?"

Anna watched her sister cover her mouth with a gloved-hand. Her shoulders shook a little and her eyes were beginning to tear.

**'She's laughing.' **

Anna reveled that her sister's pretentious facade was dropped for the moment, even if it was at her own expense, she was always wishing that Elsa could smile and laugh more often.

"So why were you stuck underneath my bed; I believe that should make for an interesting story."

Anna blinked and her mouth opened to let loose an endless spout of nervous blabber, "Oh, well I so-oooo wanted to see you. I mean, even though were sisters and all, I've never got the chance to talk to you one-on-one. Papa is always saying that you're doing very important stuff and can't be bothered by me- I hope I'm not interrupting anything- oh well- so I wanted to talk to you and I snuck into your bedroom and couldn't find a place to hide besides under the bed. By the way you keep your bedroom really neat and tidy, I wish I was more like you. Anyway, so since you always leave before I can say anything during the day I wanted to hide until you got here; you know, so we can talk. ButthenwhenyousatonthebeditcollapsedandIcouldn'tmove-"

"Anna, slow down!" Elsa was launched into another laughing fit again as a result of her sister's shocked expression.

"I'm sorry Elsa, I talk too much. I didn't mean to bore you with my talking or impose on you."

Elsa rolled her eyes and shook her head back and forth, " I find the way you talk rather cute, but I was getting nervous when I saw your face turning red. It looked like you were about to pass out from lack of air." Elsa turned around and sat on the edge of her bed, accidentally knocking her book to the ground. Not bothering to pick it up, she settled herself down into the mattress and looked up at her sister again.

"What were you wanting to talk to me about?"

"Umm, anything I suppose-" her voice hiked up a few octaves when Elsa sighed disapprovingly.

"Anna, it's late and you should be heading off to bed."

"But I won't get to talk with you tomorrow, you'll be busy like you're 'alwaaaays' are!"

"As you should be. You need to get up at seven to attend your etiquette-education class."

"Wait, etiquette-education?" Anna asked suspiciously but Elsa chocked it up to forgetfulness.

"Yes, remember, it's taught by Mrs. Sullivan; she's a widow. Her husband died last month. Honestly Anna, you've been attending her class for five weeks now!"

"How the hell do you know my schedule, lady!" Anna snarled furiously and took several furious steps towards her sister.

Of course Elsa would know; even with the whole isolation thing going on, she still had to take classes as the future monarch to Arendelle. She knew Anna's schedule by heart for Elsa was eliminating any possible encounters with her little sister as she traveled to and from those classes.

**'In this sort of situation, silence is key.'**

Elsa remained quite quiet as her sister thought hard about her response- or her lack of one.

"Oh my God! You're avoiding me on purpose."

**'Bingo, or in this case, Checkmate.'**

"Elsa. What did I ever do to you that would make you avoid me on purpose?" Anna's eyes looked down onto the blond full of hurt and anger.

**'What do I do? Anna must not know. Conceal it don't feel it.'**

"Because you're a pain, Anna."

**'Wow, that hurt to say much more than I thought it would.'**

"You're always trying to talk to me; is it so hard to believe that I just don't want to talk back?" A strategical placed rhetorical question. It had the effect Elsa wanted it to have.

Anna took a shaky step backwards.

"Its late, I'm tired. Go to bed, Anna, you're insufferable!" Elsa bent down to pick her book up off the floor and the next time she looked up, her sister was gone.

_There were no more knocks on the door. _

_No more talks and winded speeches from Anna. _

_Not anymore, _

_not after that._

* * *

Elsa hated herself, she could hear Anna crying in her bedroom, and she was broken from it. The same promise she had broken not only once, but twice. She had hurt her little sister and she ached to make it better. But what could she do?

Frozen icicles surrounded; they grew from her self-hatred and were made sharp by her guilt. Elsa couldn't bare to let Anna see them, get hurt by them- get hurt by her… She formed a knife with her powers and dug the tip experimentally into her wrist. Pulling up a long slash was carved into her skin. It ached but it wasn't anything less than she deserved. The bleeding eventually slowed and stopped but it didn't carry away her self-hatred, It did; however, distract her from it.

When the maids saw the blood on the sheets, they thought that Elsa had at last matured into a young women. They were thrilled and elated; it was a good sign. Almost like clockwork red would appear on the bed every month lasting for an entire week. And as for the gloves, they would always stay on. She had them tailored to be longer, to cover up the length of her forearm. To cover up the scars.

_Nothing is wrong._

_Everything is fine,_

_Everything is normal._

_Except it wasn't…_

_There's no one that can help something like me,_

_All alone in my own special Kingdom of Isolation._

_I'm the Queen._

* * *

She could hear her sister crying again; a mini-blizzard settled inside her bedroom. She had been through this once, she knew what her sister had seen. The gallery room, no one to comfort her, the pitiful glances people were giving her. Elsa _should_ be there for her, to walk her through it, after all, no one more than her knew how hard this was after once going through it without her father.

**'Father'**

* * *

"Do you have to go?" Anna asked sadly

There was no reply.

Her father walked to Elsa's door and sighed, "I'll see you in two weeks."

"You'll be fine." A voice carried quietly out from the other side of the door.

That was the last time Anna saw her father. That was the last time Elsa heard his voice.

* * *

She couldn't even leave her room in two weeks, not to thank the cooks that brought Elsa her meals, not even to attend her lessons.

Anna prepared for the funeral alone; she had expected Elsa to attend the parting service but she never showed up in the end.

_There went Anna's last hope; that was the last chance she was willing to give to her sister._

_No more expectations, the truth has always been in front of me._

_Life's too short to be such an oblivious fool, so reckless that I couldn't see._

_To always feel shutout and unloved by the sister I long to know._

_She doesn't care about me, not ever, not anymore._

Elsa wished she could have died on the night of his funeral. She might have too if it wasn't for a voice, that sounded almost as broken as she felt, coming from across her bedroom door.

_"Elsa, I know your in there. People are asking where you've been."_

A pause.

_"They say have 'courage' and I'm trying to. I'm right out here for you, just let me in."_

_"We only have each other, it's just you and me. What are we going to do…"_

Elsa lowered the knife and collapsed against the side of the door. She knew her sister could here hear her there; she didn't care. There was a slide against the other side of the door, her sister had joined her, if only for the moment.

It was an eternity before a set of footsteps carried someone away from the door and closed themselves off in their bedroom for the night.

To no one, but the one person that mattered the most- the one person that should and could never hear her- Elsa replied, _"Do you want to build a snowman?"_

_**Happy times seem far away.**_

_**Concerned eyes look forward to the future.**_

_**The past in in the past.**_

_**I don't think I will ever be ready to be Queen.**_


	3. Lion and the Lamb

'Elsa, come on! You _**Can**_ control this; I mean yeah, you've failed a lot of times before in the past. And maybe you've hurt your sister before due to your lack of control and are also being quarantined so you can't bring anymore harm to others. But there has to be a way! Think Elsa, think…'

Elsa brought her hands up to rest against the side of her wall and moaned.

"She _hates_ you. If you don't figure this out soon, You'll never be able to talk to her again, let alone see her."

Elsa moaned.

**'Dammit!'**

Her hands ripped away from the wall that was freezing around her. The entire half of the wall was covered in a thick layer of frost and light snowflakes drifted around Elsa. They came down even harder when she took notice.

_**'Elsa, what if that had been her?'**_

A shiver racked her body. _Sweet_ and _gentle_ **Anna** turning cold and freezing from the inside, along with a flash of betrayal and disgust in her eyes. Just one simple word which hovered on her lips waiting to be released, it would take only just a single word to destroy Elsa and everything she had worked for.

_**"Monster!"**_

Elsa flinched and cried out in despair. Her hands came up to cradle her head and she rocked back and forth. Her powers took a turn for the worse- _kill the monster they screamed silently_- millions of jagged ice formed around her and slowly crept towards her.

The woman's face flashed determinedly. _I-will-not-let-myself-become-one_ her features seemed to convey. She glanced at the calendar and bit her lower lip. It was still a few days too early but she really needed this. In less than a second she had formed a razor-sharp crystal blade and flung a glove off of her wrist.

She jumped into her bed and ran the blade up her skin while wincing. A couple droplets splattered onto her sheets with her sloppy haste and soaked into the covers.

**_'Now, where are the bandages.'_**

Tucked underneath her bed she grabbed out a few and placed them against her skin and groaned as pins-and-needles shot up her arm.

The blood made Elsa sick to her stomach; truth be told, seeing it always made her squeamish. It was still a shock to her on how she could continue doing this time and time again; she suppressed a shudder and gagged at the smell. Elsa closed her eyes waiting for the time and nausea to pass by. After the wound had stopped bleeding she created another line just to the side of it and rested her head against the board of her bed.

A couple more presses with the knife and she felt more in control of herself again. Doing this made it hard to think and even harder to feel but she waved off the discomfort. Her powers faded away; she didn't know what made them do so whenever she was injured herself but she felt them grow weaker with each press of the knife. In truth, it was her constitution that was weak. And her powers were tied to her health just as much as to her emotion. By injuring her body she was also damaging the magic inside of her. Her wintry magic recoiled from the pain and Elsa was left to herself. Which, at the moment, wasn't a good thing.

Elsa threw up and almost passed out from the loss; being the small thing she was more susceptible to any changes of the life's blood that coursed within herself. She wiped a hand across her cheek and groaned out loud; which just so happened to be heard by a servant. One that Elsa found herself very much attached to:

Gerda, a plump old lady with a certain charm about her, was at Elsa's door in a second when she heard a moan. She was very much enamored by Elsa and almost instinctively knew all of her thoughts and feelings. It would have broken her heart to know that two big secrets were being kept from her by Elsa, whom she very much considered to be like a daughter to her.

"Your Majesty, are you feeling well?" A soft voice lighter than goose-down and tempered strong with kindness called out to the trembling girl inside.

"Gerda?" Elsa's voice called out a little too childlike. Much too weak to be the strong women Gerda knew her to be.

"What's wrong?" there was no response.

The old women tried for the door only found it was locked- actually it was frozen shut- she normally wouldn't intrude without asking but worry clouded her mind.

"Can you hear me, are you okay Elsa?" forget formalities. Something was terribly wrong.

Elsa was passed out on the floor. With her powers waning due to her weak state, the ice around her was melting fast without any reinforcement from Elsa's magic. The door had thawed completely by now but Gerda was already retreating back to alert the guards. It wasn't long until the door opened and Elsa was carried away. An eruption of discord and panic ensued at finding their ruler unconscious and unresponsive. Rumors were flying around: poison, attempted assassination, treason...

* * *

A red-haired princess sat in front of a painting telling all of her pent-up emotions to it. She would normally be ranting at Elsa's door but after the last fight they had- if that is what you would call it, she found it hard to stand in front of Elsa's bedroom for more than a few seconds at a time. Anna thought she was foolish in doing so but every time she passed Elsa's door, she would pause. Eventually her eyes would become clouded by tears and she would retreat back to her own bedroom.

So instead of ranting to a shut door she was ranting to her favorite painting. It was of a strong willed woman who never let anything get her down. "Joan, I don't know what to do about Elsa. She seems hell-bent on shutting me out." her eyes widened and she gasped, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that. Honestly it just came out without even thinking about it." Anna groaned and rubbed her temples, "But what do_** I-DO**_? I can't seem to figure out why she hates me so much, and, _oh gosh_! _I'm such a failure_. Everyone goes around saying that I'm _just a spare_ and I really try and help out, but I just make everything worse."

Anna looked up at the painting expectantly and nodded, "I know, if only I just had half as much courage as you did. I mean, you are _so-oooo_ **amazing**! Maybe if I was more like you, then Elsa wouldn't hate me so much."

She was about to talk again but was interrupted by the sounds of shuffling and panic in the next room.

**'Odd, I wonder which one of the traps I set they've run into.'** Anna smirked and then winced as she looked up at Joan. _S-o-r-r-y_ she mouthed before turning around and sighing.

Anna wasn't expecting to see this when she opened up the door. A whole bunch of servants and guards scrambling around, there were shouts everywhere, and soldiers were brandishing their swords waving them about amidst the pandemonium.

"Where's the doctor. Someone find the **bloody** doctor!"

An uneasy feeling settled into the pit of her stomach. She jolted in shock when something grasped her wrist.

"Princess, you must follow me it isn't safe here!"

Her mouth went dry and she barely croaked out, "What?"

"There has been an attempt against her Majesty's life. Until the culprit is apprehended, you are to be taken to a room and kept safe."

Her heart froze over and Anna started crying, "W-where's m-m-my s-sister?"

She was being dragged away but she dug her heels into the ground and forced the captain of the guards to turn around.

"Take me to my sister." she spat out clearly amidst all her tears.

The captain's eyes softened and glanced at her.

"I suppose we can arrange for that. It would be more easier to guard you both if you're in the same room." He barked out orders and soon Anna was being waltzed away in all the pandemonium to where her sister was kept.

* * *

Elsa was just waking up, she felt groggy and tired so imagine her surprise as the shouts of relief to her stirrings. Her eye shot open as she felt a hand slide over her glove to peel it off.

"**Don't touch me!**" she ordered. A pair of shocked eyes stared back at her.

"Your Majesty, you were unconscious for more than an hour. I'm a healer that has been called to evaluate and insure your good health. I must examine you to make sure you're fine."

She winced.

**'Good-going! Look at what you've done.'**

"I'm fine, I assure you."

The healer frowned; the royal was being unreasonable but it didn't bode well for his life if he went against a direct order.

"They're was an attempt against your life just now. You should be examined to be sure you are safe from further danger." A second glance at her resilience and he knew he wouldn't be getting anywhere with her, "Can you tell me what happened, _please_, your Majesty?"

She frowned and clenched her hands. "Call my servant Gerda to the room."

"Your Majesty, P-"

He was cut off, "I need to talk to her. Call her here at once, now!"

The man sighed and backed off.

* * *

"What happened?" Gerda was fluttering around nervously in front of Elsa.

"I was in my room when my woman's curse hit me earlier than I expected. As soon as my cramps started I doubled over and ended up hitting my head hard enough to knock myself out."

Gerda gave a low growl, "You expect me to believe you simply tripped. I'd expect that from your sister not of you; please, you can tell me what really happened."

Elsa's eyes started to water but looked up with determination, "I tripped and hit my head. There is nothing more I need to explain, Gerda, please inform the healer that his presence is no longer needed here."

The old woman's eyes shot up to her hairline in shock, "You are not thinking of sending him away before he has had a chance to properly examine you, are you?"

She opened her mouth to make a retort but stopped when she heard the door opening. Two royal guards barged in with Princess Anna in tow. All three of them stopped short upon noticing Elsa was awake. Two of them gave a solute while one red-haired girl rushed forward right next to the maid.

"You're okay, Elsa. I thought you were going to die." Anna started crying and Gerda wrapped a comforting arm around her. The old woman settled a glare back onto Elsa.

"Yes, she's alright and stubborn too. She doesn't think she needs the doctor and wants me to send him away before he's even had the chance to look at her."

"Gerda." Elsa warned.

"Elsa, what happened to you? You can't do that, you need to be looked at."

**"No!"**

Everyone jumped and Elsa repeated quietly, "No, that won't be necessary, I am fine. Everyone leave now, I'm tired and all I need is rest in order to recover."

Anna had thought that Elsa's reclusive tendencies was only directed at her. Now she was beginning to understand that it wasn't only her that her sister kept out, but everybody.

**'How can she live like this?'** Anna thought sadly. This was the longest she had ever spent in front of her sister in a while; it was only just now she could take in how sick her and miserable her sister looked.

Elsa on the other hand was using everything she had not to stare at Anna like an idiot. Her sister had grown some more and a little part of her throbbed in pain that she was never there to watch this change take place. She clutched her wrists with her hands and twisted her back against everyone, an obvious dismissal; however, Anna couldn't just walk away with her sister like this.

**"No."**

The air was static with energy. All the tenants in the room shifted nervously.

**"No?"** came Elsa's reply. She settled a cold glare onto Anna.

_**'Better make this quick, I'm not sure how much longer I can last against the 'Glare' she's giving me. I've never seen her look like that before.'**_

"You're not Queen yet. We're both princesses and I have just as much power over everything that's happening at the moment as you do right now. In fact, since you're sick, I believe that makes me acting ruler-" Elsa muttered something along the lines of, '_that only works if one of us is queen._' Anna continued on despite the rude interruption, "And I say that the doctor stays. We need to be sure your alright so you can go back to giving orders on your royally hiney."

Yep, Anna was ticked.

Elsa bit her lip and considered her sisters words. After a few moments she nodded, "Okay, he may come in, but I will not have any of my clothes taken off of me and he is only allowed to touch me when absolutely necessary." Anna tried to argue but was shot down.

**"Call him in."**

* * *

Anna closed the door behind her and then turned on her sister, "**Were you being a deliberate ass or what?**" Her sister merely just turned the page to her book.

No response.

"**What is wrong with you, you faint and then act as if nothing is wrong, why won't you even look at me**?" She saw Elsa wince in pain but she soon resumed that indifferent mask.

" _Enough Anna!_"

**'Oh, for the love of all that is good. What is wrong with my damn sister!'**

She threw up her hands in exasperation and gave a pointed glare towards Elsa. Finally she turned around and walked out of the room but was chased by her sister's words.

"My coronation is next week. From then on I'll not have you telling me what I should and should not do."

Anna slammed the door for good measure.

* * *

Oh, she was really mad. She trembled violently and spat nonsensical cursed each time she passed her sister's door. Anna even kicked it once, though she didn't do it again afterwards, her toe was sore for the rest of the week which made her lessons in ballroom dancing unbearably painful. She was like a maned-lioness, if she had seen her sister even just a day before her crowning, she would have jumped and tried to choke the little _stinker_.

It was inevitable that the day had finally arrived though; it probably wouldn't look too good if she tried to strangle her sister today. The day of her coronation. So she had to grin and beret through it. Of course, as was the princesses nature, she started the day off rushed.

"It's Coronation Day!" She giggled. Anna started twirling, dancing, and singing. The little lioness was on a rampage through the castle and managed to destroy Elsa's cake, the one that was to be served during the ball later that evening- no one would ever venture to guess that little sweet Anna had thrown the bust into it on purpose. She was such a klutz that they guessed it was just another clumsy accident from their resident vertically-challenged royal.

"**_That'll learn-ya._**" Anna growled after the statue made contact and spun around. She had then all-but-forgot her venomosity towards her sister. The princess started humming and chuckling as she ran through the castle and towards the gates that would be opening soon.

* * *

Kai and Gerda watched with hidden mirth as Anna pranced here and there. Someone had stumbled across the demolished cake and there was a rush to get it replaced in time for the guests.

" Our princess is a f_orce of nature_. One would be foolish not be afraid of her, I think behind her cheerfulness countenance hides a dangerous creature- she's quite the mighty lioness inside."

A light chuckle and a response, " And I think behind our icy queen hides a gentle and even more playful lamb."

" The Queen has no idea how much of a monster her little sister can really be,"

" And the Princess has no idea on how sweet and caring her older sister is."

_The Lion shall lie with the lamb._

_Although no one had ever known just how fussy this lion could really be and the lamb was quite the pushover._


	4. Cinderella and the Ball

A/N: Hey everyone, I had fun writing this chapter. I also did quite a bit of research because I wanted the coronation scene to have more depth and realism to it. I know a lot of this chapter is quite parallel to the movie but now that I'm through with the start, I can start breaking off into my own path. And I'd like to mention that I do not own the rights to _Frozen_, just this fan-fic.

I love my readers and reviewers; however, I'm a little upset at one who pointed out an accidental misuse of you're vs. your.

:O

I hope you guys can be supportive, these things do and probably will continue to slip through and unfortunately I don't have a proof-reader to help me get through my errors. On the other hand, thank you Dualz and CorMELiRom And.55 for your wonderful reviews, I hope you two continue to enjoy my story as it evolves!

Anyway, I'd rather not keep you all waiting. _Ta-ta_ for now!

* * *

Elsa threw the blood-caked gloves into the fire and watched as they slowly burned away. She was afraid that the doctor would see her injuries but managed to make it through the entire checkup without them being discovered. It was a short lived victory when her sister came charging into the room- rightfully so- angry at her. Her only reaction was to send her away so she could continue to hide her secret.

She placed an order for another set of gloves and did all of her royal tasks inside her bedroom from that point on. Elsa was already angry and disappointed at herself but it worsened each time Anna would walk by her door. Anna would start swearing at it before she stomped off after a couple of minutes; Elsa could barely even begin to guess at the full extent of Anna's anger. And the younger princess wasn't the only one to visit her door, Gerda too would stop outside of her door to talk. Elsa would only respond to the woman's worries about herself each time with a, _"I'm fine"_ and then proceed to ask on how her sister was faring:

"She's fine too, but would be much better if you were there with her."

The last of her gloves turned to ash and Elsa turned to look at the door with a heavy sigh.

" I know, but I can't. I'm-b-busy." It was the night before her coronation.

"Bullshit," Gerda barked out causing the royal to jump in shock.

"Gerda!"

"The only thing you do in there is read books and stamp a few documents the council gives you. They do most of your royal duties seeing as you're not officially crowned Queen just yet. So the only two reasons I can see as to being the reason why you're refusing to see your sister is that either you're doing something in there that I don't know about, or you're avoiding her again."

If Gerda had seen Elsa's face, she would have realized she was right on both counts.

"I just don't think right now would be the best time."

"You're right, I'm afraid that it should wait until your coronation is over," the old woman mused, "but not a moment later. You need to talk to your sister. She's family and I think its long past overdue for one."

"I think so too," Elsa agreed, albeit with much resistance.

* * *

_So she was going to be crowned today._

Elsa flung open the doors and was greeted by a line of maids. Her gloves were tight against her skin but they gave almost a feeling of comfort to her. Elsa had been practicing all morning but only felt secure with them on, and now she would have to take them off in front of everyone…

"Tell the guards to open up- The Gates!"

_**'Don't let them in, don't let them see.'**_

A couple of maids scurried off to do her bidding. Elsa walked forward and made her way to the balcony; she would have to receive the people into her kingdom after all.

**_' Be the good girl you always have to be- conceal.'_**

She almost turned around to run away when she saw all those people filing in. There were so many of them.

**_'Conceal don't feel. Put on a show, make one wrong move and everyone will know.'_**

"Welcome to Arendelle! Thank you for coming to witness my crowning." She swallowed nervously but hid that as she turned around to lead the royal procession outside the castle walls. Her crowning was to take place at the church to secure her claim to rule through divine rights. It took forever for the parade to reach the church sanctuary and it took even longer to enter; all the citizens of Arendelle had been made to wait for her Majesties presence before anyone was even allowed to enter.

The crowd settled down as she made her way alone through the center of the church and around the choir. Elsa bowed as she approached the alter before assuming her place beside it; meanwhile, the bishop and his acolytes finished the rest of their preparations.

Elsa's senses were overloaded that she didn't realize Anna had been placed off to stand to her left during the entire event. She felt disconnected from everything around her as she swore her oath to her kingdom. She was crowned and anointed; Elsa had to stand very still while they affixed her with a brilliant gold and red robe as well as a matching crown on top of her head; it wasn't much later before she was made to hold the orb of sovereignty.

"Your Majesty, _the gloves_." The face in front of her looked full of somber and even a little... Sympathetic?

She removed the fabric and was sure to keep her wrists down, to hide the scars, while she grabbed the orb and watched in horror as it frosted over. She placed it down as quick as she could and it thawed on its trip back to the alter. Soon she was made to hold the royal scepter which iced over similarly but it had also went unnoticed. Not a second after setting the extravagant item down she tore the gloves up off from the cushion and shoved them on.

Lastly was her enthroning and there she had to hold those two cursed objects once more as she made her way alone through another procession around the church. Elsa felt like she was some weird animal on parade; her people and everyone watched her with unforgiving eyes.

_All it would take was one mistake._

**'Conceal don't feel!'**

It was by some miracle alone that she got through it at all.

Priests of the church and women swarmed around her as they replaced her ceremonial cloak with that of a regal purple symbolizing an official Queen. And all she had to do now was make it back to the castle without accident. Someone would come to her room and retrieve the crown she was wearing, scepter, and orb later.

Elsa had official survived her one and only coronation.

"Long live the Queen, long live the Queen!"

**_"Long live the Queen!"_**

_Surely she could make it through the party afterwards…_

* * *

"We now present to you Queen Elsa of Arendelle and her royal sister, Princess Anna of Arrendele!"

Elsa was now in front of the two thrones of the kingdom; she could occupy only one of them but the other was empty with the absence of a husband monarch. She felt another burden press into her- Elsa would be made to marry someone soon for the security of the royal blood line. The new Queen quickly pushed those thoughts from her head, she would have plenty of time to think of them later. She kept her head straight but took notice that her sister was absent.

**"Ahem-"** the announcer coughed.

Princess Anna crept forward sheepishly and stopped at the side corner of the room. She gave a little awkward wave before one of the servants stepped forward to retrieve her. He gripped her by the arm and dragged her forward next to Elsa, " Oh here, are you sure? Cause I don't think I'm suppose t_**-**oofmph_" She was jolted to a stop and the servant retreated back down the steps much quicker than he had traveled up them. There was an eruption of cheers and applause before they died away; soon there was only a low hum of talk as the people went back to socializing. Music began to play and festivities resumed.

No longer the center of attention Elsa relaxed just a little and smiled at her sister "Hi!"

Anna flinched and pointed at herself, "Hi, hi _me_?" she sounded a little incredulous. "Oh, umm… hi."

The pair looked away and the princess ran a nervous hand through her hair. Elsa was quiet for a few moments before she decided to press on, "So this is what a party looks like?"

**'Wait, what did she just say.'**

Anna either didn't hear her or was too out of it to understand.

"It's warmer than I thought."

Elsa raised a brow and refused to allow herself to laugh at her adorable younger sister, "What is that amazing smell?" She sniffed the air for a few seconds before Anna caught on. They turned to each other and said at the same time, "Chocolate."

There was still tension in the air but they broke off laughing. Anna opened her mouth to say something that would have probably only served to embarrass her further when the Gods saw pity on her.

"Your Majesty! The Duke of Weasleton." A guard said, saluting her before beating a retreat.

"It's Wesleton, you fool!" A short man retorted sharply before adopting a charming attitude made of plastic, "As your first-partner in trade, it seems most fitting that I offer you your first dance as Queen." he bowed and his wig slid down exposing a significant lack of hair.

**'That is so not going to happen.'**

"Thank you, only I don't dance." hey, it was true; she was never allowed to take lessons for fear of freezing her dance partner's feet off. Elsa gestured and offered her sister up as sacrifice wincing internally as she did so. "But my sister does."It was all in good fun. Yes, Anna wasn't exactly dying to have him for a dance partner but this was what she needed to get out and go enjoy herself.

The older sister watched as her sister disappeared off into the crowd before sighing. Soon, she would have to go and personally greet the prominent guests of the ball- and then she would be done.

_The gates would never be opened again after the clock stuck twelve. _

_Anna would be safe and Elsa would never disappoint anyone ever again._

**_If only_**

_..._

* * *

Here it was, during the party of her crowning, Anna was in the arms of a man she had never seen before. The pair had just obviously met this very night, and when Anna along with that creepy man opened up their mouths, a nightmarish situation started:

"We would like your blessing," the couple giggled and clutched tighter pnto each other, "of our marriage!"

"Marriage." Elsa deadpanned. Her little sister giddy with excitement merely shook her head and squealed. "I'm sorry I'm confused," she felt a chill rack her body which was funny considering how she was the ice-queen and all.

Anna went off on a tangent before fixing her eyes at the man and asking, "Wait, will we live here?"

"Here?" Elsa's heart flat-lined at this moment too.

"Absolutely!" Elsa narrowed her eyes at the man and shifted her gaze back to her sister helplessly. She called out her name but her sister was once again babbling on without a care in the world.

"Anna! No no-no-no-no!" How could her sister not see her very apparent discomfort? Elsa's arms began to wave in front of her like a pelican trying to draw the redhead's focus back to Earth, "Wait, slow down-" finally Anna stopped and looked at her, "No one's brothers are staying here, and no one is getting married."

"Wait what?"

"May I talk to you please," Elsa's eyes shifted to nervously look around her noticing the gradual increasing number of spectators watching them, "alone?"

"No, whatever you have to say, you can say to both of us!"

**'Oh God! How am I suppose to respond to that.'**

She used the voice of reasoning that Elsa had remembered their mother had used on her when she was very little, "Fine…" breathe in breathe out, "You cannot marry a man you just met."

"You can if it's true love," Anna insisted getting very pissed off.

"Anna, what do you know about true love?"

"More than you, all you know is how to shut people out."

Elsa felt like she had just received a blow to the face, "You asked for my blessing and my answer is no. Now, excuse me…" The Queen started walked away, trying to shake off the onslaught of pain that washed through her in response to her sister's words. She paused as the reason to her current argument with her sister, the man whose name she didn't even know, tried pleading with her to reconsider. But at the moment, being merciful wasn't her main concern. She cut him off.

"The party is over, close the gates!"

"Elsa, no, no. Wait!" Anna lunged forward after her sister and tried to grab her arm. Her hand slipped down and so did Elsa's glove; Anna grabbed the delicate bundle of cloth and danced a few steps away.

Elsa gasped at the realization.

**_'They'll see I'm a monster.'_**

"Anna, give me my glove." She tried lunging for it but Anna just pulled it back out of her reach. Her arms were exposed bright red and scabby, but at the moment her little sister nor the audience was looking at them- her eyes were locked in a stare down.

"Elsa please! I can't live like this anymore."

"Then leave." She was surprised at the lack of emotion in her own voice; and apparently, so was her sister. Her arms wrapped around her and she gasped but turned around, once again, hiding her emotions and pain from precious Anna.

"What did I ever do to you?"

"Enough Anna."

"No! Why do you shut me out? Why do you shut the world out?" Elsa was almost to the door; now she was counting every single on of her steps, praying she could make it there.

"What are you so afraid of?"

_'Everything!'_Elsa screamed this inside of her head.

**"I Said Enough!"**

Her power arced out behind her onto the ground. Elsa's dirty little secret was now exposed for everyone to see, and see they did. Shards of menacing ice spikes shot out; however, her people were safe from them because they weren't the ones that Elsa's deadly powers were pointed at.

Every single one of them stabbed their tips towards Elsa. Screaming her silent cry and answer to everyone.

**'What am I so afraid of. Me… It has always been me.'**

She was through the doors and exited them hearing the people she left cry sorcery. Her steps pounded the ground as she tore out the entrance to her castle- actually it probably wasn't hers anymore, she had lost that right- and down the steps. All she wanted was to be alone yet, when she looked up, she was still surrounded by people.

" The Queen!" a gasp went through the crowd and they soon started cheering.

Elsa ran and weaved her way past the throng of people, but everywhere she went, people stepped forward to congratulate her. She almost tumbled to the as she squeezed her way past a tight group of people but regained her step. She was now in front of a mother with a newborn in her arms.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?"

"No," Elsa backed away and her eyes swam with tears. She ran into something and her hand reached down to find purchase against smooth stone. At once her powers burst out again and whipped to and fro as it was formed from an agitated Elsa. It turned into a claw that spun about in the fountain. People began to step away and hide their children behind them. Elsa could only watch her creation with increasing distress.

"Stop her!"

"Please just stay away from me," Elsa gasped out in fright, "Stay away." She motioned her hand trying to plead for them to keep away from her.

_Bad Move._

Bam! Another blast of ice whistled through the air and Elsa thought for a moment that it was going to be a directly hit the Duke and his guards. Instead it exploded before reaching them and coated the surrounding ground with ice. They immediately fell over as they lost friction.

"MONSTER!"

The Queen could barely handle it. If it had been Anna who had screamed that… She needed to be away from here.

**_NOW!_**

Elsa took off running just as Anna reached the door and saw the mess the courtyard was in. She yelled but her voice died away in the uproar of the crowd and Elsa didn't hear her. Before she even knew what she was doing, she took off running after her sister.

"Elsa!"

Anna's footsteps hit the ground hard and stumbled to a halt in order to kick off the heels she was wearing. They only served to slow her down. When she looked up, Elsa had reached the Fjord and paused at the shoreline. Anna foolishly thought that she could finally catch up to her.

She was wrong.

Elsa placed a hesitant foot onto the water. Both sisters thought for a moment it would sink but a white blue settled across the surface on where she had stepped. The Queen took off running across the water just as it froze over. The Princess knew that she had lost at this point and slowed down when she neared the river.

_At least it couldn't get much worse, right?_

The ice continued to spread until it covered the entire length of the Fjord and a light snowfall began to settle everywhere.

Anna kicked the ground angrily and shrugged her shoulders before pacing as she tried to think out a plan.

_She could always just follow after her sister across the water, right?_

The air cooled until it stung her bare shoulders and the snow was starting to fall down heavier. She slumped down in defeat and groaned.


	5. Monsters Inn and Night

_A/N: Hey guys, again! Just thought to add that I've made this chapter fairly light than I meant to. I hope you enjoy reading it and keep your eye out for a quote I used from GOT. Write a review if you find it._

_Farewell for now!_

* * *

Elsa had been running for what seemed like forever and to a certain extent it was true; she'd been keeping her secret from Anna since that fateful day but that wasn't why she was so exhausted at the moment. That lovely mountain that Elsa had watched from her window for years; she was currently hiking up that mountain like there was no tomorrow. It was hard to believe that she had managed to build a castle before passing into a deep slumber on the cold floor.

It was funny how, now that she was miles away from any form of civilization, privileged her life had been back in Arendelle. First of all, she never had to catch and cook a snowshoe before. She was hung up on the first step which was proving difficult, but her stomach pressed onwards to continue this impossible game of cat and mouse.

"Damn," she snarled. It was the seventh rabbit that she had lost since this morning.

It didn't take her long to find another one. It was cleaning it's tasty looking fur when the creature's acute ears perked up at the sound of her approach. Predator and pray sat staring at each other for a minute before the rabbit turned around and bounded away running for it's burrow. Elsa cursed as she took off after it.

Of course it was near impossible to outrun a rabbit. Out thinking one on the other hand, was much more realistic.

The streak of white was heading right for a dense thick patch of trees. Elsa could barely make out at the base of a stump was a rather conspicuous looking hole. Just as the snowshoe leapt forward to freedom and shoot its body down straight into the hole, Elsa formed an icecap over the entrance. The poor thing leapt headfirst as fast as it could into the ice and knocked itself out cold from the impact. But for all that Elsa had learned about hunting, she thought she had killed it.

Elsa approached it feeling shaken and guilty about what she had just done. She had just taken a life away using her powers. In less than a second she was dry heaving into the snow behind her at the very thought of killing a poor defenseless bunny. Once her stomach and mind settled, she turned around to see the animal picking itself up off the ground. It looked a little daze but was quickly coming back to its senses.

"ARGGGGGGG!" Elsa screamed out in frustration. It took only one last blast of her icy powers to turn the rabbit into shish kabob.

Now it was really dead; unless it suddenly turned into a zombie.

She had all but forgotten her qualms on taking a life at this point; the famished Queen charged forward with a sense of glee at the thought of nice tasty rabbit. She was so caught up figuring out the number of ways she could roast the snowshoe that she had forgotten that she had another phobia, and this one was much more harder to get over. The smell hit her first and then the color. It was redder than her sister's hair and sent her world spinning into chaos. From far away she could make out voices approaching her.

_"Do you think she's alright?"_

_"Yes, she should be good enough to eat right now. Certain am I."_

_"Ugh, no! None of us should eat something that looks sick. Any one of us can go and catch ourselves something to snack on before the hunting party gets back; we shouldn't touch that thing, it looks gross."_

_"Who cares about that? Now, would you look at this over here, it is simply marvelous darling! Looks like the human caught itself a rabbit. Oh- well- that's strange."_

_"What is it?"_

_"The rabbit has got a ton of icecicles sticking out all over its body. I've never seen pray do that; sorry if I can't remember clearly. I've felt my mind slipping these past few decades. I think, well maybe that… Forget what I just said, have you seen anything like this before?"_

_"No. I can't say I have."_

Hundreds of yellow eyes stared at Elsa before she found her world going dark as she slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Elsa had lost more than half the day by the time she woke up. It was unsettling that she couldn't remember anything much after getting dizzy from the blood but more than that, her hunger was back with a vengence; she was thankful that the rabbit was still pinned in the air by her magic. It had mostly drained itself of blood and Now all she had to do was to cook it, but that posed a problem in itself. When Elsa realized she had no matchsticks to get one started, she swore to the gods. Life would have been a lot easier if she stopped to carry some before she reached the mountain.

So what do you do when you can't get a fire started out in the middle of a blizzard?

Why you shrug your shoulders and scarf down the delicacy even if it's raw and cold, of course! Elsa wasn't quite sure whether it was the magic within or that her abnormally low body temperature staved off most sicknesses normal people catch. Either way, it didn't matter one way or another when you're as hungry as she is at the moment.

Her hunger satisfied for the moment, Elsa eyed the sky with a frown. It was getting late and would be dangerous to be out and about in the open. She remembered all the stories told to her about the monsters that lurked outside the city walls at night, killing innocent people to satisfy their own sick perversions.

A laugh escaped her lips and she wiped the animal's blood away from the side of her mouth. It was nigh time Elsa joined her inhuman brethren; to everyone else, it seemed her powers made her something scary. Something not human. And she agreed with them.

I'm just another monster walking in night.

* * *

She heard them. They howled and growled from outside of the castle; the sound of claw against her enchanted ice. Elsa trembled and stayed awake the entire night, it wasn't tell the light of dawn came did the nightmarish assault on her castle cease. It was like one moment they were there, creeping and climbing in search of an entry point, and the next they were gone.

So maybe she wasn't a complete monster. Or her mind was sane enough to take heed of her own mortality. One thing for certain though is that she wasn't going anywhere today; Elsa had blocked off the entrance to her balcony and sat pacing the length of the top floor. She nibbled on the rabbit she had caught yesterday- it was well preserved from the frozen climate- and satisfied her thirst using her powers.

**There was still much of the day left before night came once more.**

_**And they came again.**_

* * *

Elsa had gotten use to them coming every night. She had all day to go hunting outside before barricading herself into the castle during the late evening. These entities were very dangerous if the constant damage to her palace of ice were any indication and an encounter would probably not bode well for her.

She had always been accustomed to isolation, so completely severing all of her connections to people wasn't that hard of a change. Elsa merely went about her business during the day; it was inevitable, but Elsa had completely forgotten that she would have to eventual run into something - or rather someone.

Tranquil, her soul had been like this for several days. Elsa never felt so much at peace as when she stared into her sister's lovely sea-foam eyes- so her castle responded to her memories and emotions to take on a similar color. During the long days she distracted herself by playing with her powers. In fact, she was in the process of forming a pool so she could take a bath when she was interrupted.

_Rat-ta-ta-tap-tap_

Anna could hardly believe her eyes; this place was beautiful and more wonderful than she could ever have imagined. Giving a glance to the guy right beside her, it was apparent he was shocked at the beautiful tiered and many faceted construction. That made her feel happy, knowing that her sister could make such a gruff and boring guy speechless in awe. She didn't waste a second turning her back on him after ordering him to stay outside. Little miss Red wanted to have a nice heart-to-heart chat with the little Stinker.

It took a few moments to build up her courage to knock; and when she did, the large double doors swung open creepily. Without a second thought, she started walking into the unknown.

The entrance to Elsa's castle was beyond a doubt one of the most impressive things she had seen in her life. Pillars of ice rose up around her in a seemingly endless spiral of ice, great sweeping arches danced overhead connecting hundreds upon hundreds of rooms, an elaborate chandelier waved slightly overhead giving off a gentle wash of blue to everything below while snowflakes floated around it catching and throwing its light onto the walls, and here Anna stood at the bottom of it all by two perfectly symmetrical stairways.

_It was past surreal._

"Elsa?" she called out. The gentle teal of the castle flashed a darker green in recognition. Anna started climbing the staircases when something rushed out strait at her.

"Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" a snowman began running down the steps before tripping. Anna shrieked and jumped back a few steps. His body fell apart into three segments and bounced down the rest of the way. It took her a few minutes to calm down before she could walk forward and help piece the snowman back together.

"Olaf?" she recognized the name. Did that mean anything to her?

"Yep, that's my name!" He giggled stupidly and swung his legs bashfully.

"And you're alive?"

"Yeah so?"

"Did Elsa make you?"

"Yeah so?"

"Do you know where she is right now?"

"Yeah so?"

**'This is getting ridiculous.'**

"Can you take me to meet her?"

"Nope! She told me that I was to go straight back down to that weird place at the bottom of the hill with you. Look, she even gave me my own personal flurry so I won't melt!"

"Actually that's a problem. See, she's the Queen and us the only one that knows how to run everything down there. Me, well… I'm just the spare, I don't know anything on how to rule a Kingdom."

"Of course you don't, silly."

**'Was my intelligence just insulted by a snowman?'**

"Mother told me that you would need help. So she made me like- umm- really smart or something. She wants to stay here for a while and appointed me like the ruling head or something while she's gone. I'm so excited, I've never run a Kingdom before!"

"Are you kidding me?"

He twirled and giggled, "Nope, anything you need help with, just come and ask me! Olaf here at your service- I provide hugs while I rule an entire Kingdom free of charge."

**'No way in Hell am I trusting the fate of Arendelle to some happy-go-lucky snowman.'**

"No, I need to talk to Elsa."

"Mommy doesn't want to talk to you. You're only here to get someone that can run the Kingdom, so why not me?"

Anna started yanking her hair in frustration, "Look you can't because- because. Ugh, never mind that. You just can't and I need to go and talk to my sister."

Olaf pouted but she was having none of it. She sent him outside to go wait with Kristoff before running up the steps to find her sister. There were so many rooms that she could be in…

_This was going to take a while._

* * *

"You need to go, you shouldn't have even come in the first place."

Elsa was naked and in the bath, the water around her turned red as the blood that soaked her body came loose- none of it belonged to her, it was just hard to eat raw meat cleanly. At the moment she looked a bit feral as she stared into the eyes of her little sister. The blond rinsed the last of the blood out of her hair before she rose out and conjured an ice gown to cover her figure.

This time adding gloves.

" You look different," Anna began to say and flinched as she noticed Elsa's eyes narrow slightly, "but it's a good different."

"Thank you; I never knew just how much I was capable of."

"This is amazing Elsa, I didn't know you could do these things and you seem happier."

"I'm so glad you like it sis' because this is the real me; you have no idea how good it feels to be free."

Anna shuffled closer and beamed at her sister, "But you'll come back with me, right?"

"Back?"

"To thaw the Fjord. It's Frozen over, no one can get in or out?" Her voice tapered off at the end as she saw Elsa turn away and cross her arms over her body.

"Oh."

"Soooooo…"

Elsa suddenly turned around and glared at Anna, "I don't believe you!"

"What, I just assumed that you'd have to-"

"That I'd shove on the gloves. That's how your story ends?"

"Yep, it'll be just like it was, except for we'll be best friends."

Elsa trembled, she was angry but she was also so very scared. Anna needed to let her go, to go back home and never return. Also she couldn't go back anymore, not after what happened. Her voice steeled over as she attempted to drive her sister away.

"So that's in your plan to force me back in a cage?"

Anna took a step back, Elsa had never been so angry with her before, "Whoa, don't get upset now- let's get back on the same page."

"You can say whatever you want cause I don't care, you're a fool who married a stranger."

Anna hadn't married Hans yet, but that was beside the point. "That is so unfair," she growled back at her older sister.

_'What in the world was her problem?'_

She didn't have any time to ask because she was being shoved back the way she came by a giant pile of snow. The stairs flattened as she tripped backwards and slid all the way down them. She was out the entrance and quite a few feet away before she came to a stop.

All she saw when she looked up was an emotionless Elsa about to slam the doors on her once more. Slowly the blonds face turned into that of pure horror as she looked at the sky.

"We can talk about this later. Anna get inside, now!"

"What in the world is your problem? One moment you're shoving me out and the next you want me to come inside. You know what? Screw you." Kristoff who was standing beside Olaf gasped at the Princesses use of profanity. Olaf merely looked between the two and walked beside Elsa.

"This isn't a game," Elsa ran down the entrance to her castle and started shoving Anna up them. She had just reached the entrance when she did a double take at the man standing agape looking at her, "Anna, who is this- actually- you know what? Never mind."

As soon as they were both through the main door she motioned Kristoff and Olaf inside. When they stepped through she sealed the entrance off with her powers.

"What's out there?" the man asked. Magic was nothing knew to him but for such a powerful woman to be as scared as she was of something outside, it terrified him.

"Many things. For the night is dark and full of terrors."

Off in the distance a howl sounded from far away. They always arrived on the third; she had defended herself before in the past when there was only her; was she able to protect the others from the monsters that came every night? She would have to try.

There was but one way to find out.


	6. Hell's Ride

Elsa danced along her ice floors waving her hands as she cast layer upon layer of defenses. She had to, there was one time where the creatures successfully broke in and Elsa was almost cornered and captured. As for the moment, she had no idea of their intentions but she wasn't willing to chance finding out. So she solidified her walls and blocked all entrances; solidifying her walls stronger than any man-made barriers could craft.

Anna watched her sister twirl; there was a certain beauty in the way she moved. The blond didn't try and hid her emotions at the moment, it was contorted into that of fear and determination as she went through her intricate waltz. What was so terrifying that her sorceress sister would blockade herself up in a fortress of ice and snow?

The castle had shifted colors again- an alarming yellow hue bounced off everything. It even had begun to storm lightly inside in response to the older sister's panic. There was a light powder of snow that dusted the floor of the room they were in.

Kristoff observed all of this quietly.

Satisfied for the moment she lowered her arms and turned to the red-head, "Go to a room, I don't care which one, and stay there."

"What's going on, Elsa? I don't know what's happening and you haven't even told me anything," she pointed to the iced-over entrance, "What is out there that you don't want inside?"

"I don't know."

"You obviously know something, what are you keeping from me?"

"I don't know; I haven't seen what they are."

A second howl came from outside. It was closer, much closer than the last one. There would only be one more before they fell upon them.

"Get into a room now!" The blond began to conjure up a pile of snow if her Anna refused to move.

The man saw the determination in her eyes; everything Anna had said about Elsa the last few days didn't add up. All he could see was a strong desire to protect her younger sister but the Princess was completely convinced that she was hated. He couldn't figure out what was going on between the two and decided to stay silent for a little longer.

Anna stalked off and entered some random room; she turned around when she was inside and flipped her sister off. Unfortunately for Anna, her sister had turned around by that point and didn't see the gesture.

"I suggest you join her young man; however, I hope you know that if you touch her you will never leave this place intact."

**'Ah, I've forgotten what it was like to have a normal family, and she gives very convincing threats I might add.'**

He grunted and joined the fuming royal in the room. The inside was comfortable and well suited to lounging.

Elsa sealed the entrance up and began to leave; before she had taken even more than a couple of steps her sister leapt up and began pounding a fist against the conjured wall. "What, so now you've decided that you are no longer locking yourself up anymore? You're going to instead imprison me, huh, is that what this is?"

Everything was silent except for the sharp taps of heels on ice as Elsa moved away.

A third final howl shook the walls of the castle. It sounded like it was right behind you- so close that you could almost make out a warm breath down the back of your neck. Everyone shivered as goose bumps traveled up their arm.

A chorus of yelps and snarls began to start. It sounded like a platoon of soldiers were storming forward and there was nothing else to hear but the thunderous approach of the enemy. There was the grinding sound and shatters as every single defensive structure she had crafted was destroyed. It didn't take long before they were in the castle. Something was wrong, there were more this night than she had expected. They were also going much faster than before. For the past week, they had lumbered along at a slow and leisurely pace and had never broken into the castle this fast before.

Were they sentient? Did they take their time breaking in before in the past to analyze and test the limits of her magic? After the first week she overcame her fear and worry of them; but it was different now, this was an all out war between her and the monsters.

And she had placed her sister right in the center of it all.

Elsa saw something turn the corner at the end of the hallway; she didn't even think about it as she conjured up a wall between her and the creature. Her eyes met those of amber before they disappeared behind her building. As soon as it had finished forming she let out a huge sigh.

**'Wait, didn't I built my house to be symmetrical?'**

It was too late for her to react, something had jumped and knocked her over/. She scrambled away and screamed as something bit into her shoulder; forming an ice blade in her hands, she dug the sharp tip into the creature on her back.

It yelped and released its grip.

"Elsa, are you okay, let me out! Whatever is going on out there, please, just let me help you!"

Her heart dropped as she heard Anna's voice. Elsa wished she had just stayed quiet; now these damned things knew that she wasn't alone. She could see the creature in front of her stop for a moment to lick it's blood-drenched fangs. From the other end of the hall even more started to filter in.

_"I'm glad the hunting party got here in time for this."_

_"Yep, and by the looks of it, those humans we were chasing decided to flee here. We can take care of two problems at once now."_

_"Oh, so the ones on the other side of the wall are the prey we managed to loose? Didn't the human girl hit you with a Banjo, Hhesab?"_

_"Yes, if I remember correctly, you were tossed off the man by a flaming blanket by the same human."_

They circled Elsa but kept just out of reach as they continued their friendly banter. Occasional one would come close and she would lunge at it with her knife and it would retreat backwards. Now that she had the time she could begin to make out details: they wore an ashen-grey pelt, black stockings covered the length of their legs up, and they resembled wolves only they were different and larger than their earthly counterparts. These creatures crept along sinewy ligaments and kept themselves low to the ground. The skin around their body hung loose, you could see their skeletons, and exposed how truly emaciated their forms truly were.

Elsa blinked as she noticed something; not believing it to be true, she concentrated even harder.

_"Can we just kill them already? We need to be out of here by sunrise…"_

_"No need to rush, the moon is still high on the waters still."_

_"She can understand us."_ whispered a monster whose yellow eyes that had been staring at her.

That brought the swarming pack to a pause. The one that had been observing Elsa for quite sometime noticed her tilting her head as different dialogues entered the conversation; he had watched her jaw tense each time they spoke of continuing their murderous assault. The fact that she was even aware of their conversation didn't please the group at all.

_"How much has she heard?"_

_"This pathetic whelp knows our language, impossible!"_

_"Human!"_ A snarling form broke free of the pack and stumbled towards her._ "Damn you and your kind, I'll kill you."_

He lunged.

Just as Elsa expected, his sleek form bloated until he was about the size of a large horse. Snowy tendrils caught him mid-leap and bound his arms and legs by his side so he couldn't struggle.

_"How scintillating!"_ One called and the group backed away. _"The law of our kind must be upheld,"_ foam leaked out of its mouth in fevered excitement.

Elsa shook her head back and forth, "I know what you things are, now…"

**'They are _Aufhockers_, the nightmares that stalk the shadows.'**

"Tell me, beasts. I know what your challenge is. Will you all promise to leave us alone if I win, to not attack us during or after the contest? You must swear to it! "

The group paused and whined collectively but responded as one, _"We promise- we'll leave- and won't come back. You win when the sun breaks; if not, we win."_

_"And you go splat!"_ One cried gleefully. Elsa was all to aware on how these disgusting creatures hunt. They would leap onto their victims and grow heavier and heavier until their pray burst apart from the pressure.

Not a very comfortable way to die, she could imagine.

Elsa lowered the one she had caught with her snow magic and mounted his back; all she had to do was hold on and not get thrown off until dawn.

**'Now's not the time to_ Let It Go.'_**

After a nod from the group the challenge started. Elsa quickly trapped the creature in layers of thick ice. He struggled and snarled at his rider and ,in less than a second, the pack was surrounding her to break apart the magic she conjured that restrained their brother. These things were true to their word, though, no claws they swung or teeth they gnashed ever touched her; however, it was only a small promise that held them back.

There was an enormous possibility that Elsa would die tonight. She had to save her sister.

Elsa melted the doorway that Anna and Kristoff were trapped behind. The redhead took one look at the situation and was determined to help her sister out. That's why Elsa refused to look at her sibling and spared only a second glance at the man that stood beside the only family she had left. Her magic of snow and ice was powerless against these beings. Her ice could cage, restrain, or bind one, but it couldn't harm them.

**'Go, I can't protect you both here. You must escape!'**

Elsa's eyes pleaded with him.

He dragged Anna backwards to the entrance that the creatures had broken threw not but a few minutes ago. Him and Anna were running as fast as he could back down the mountain. He would guide them into the Valley of Trolls.

* * *

Elsa sighed as she watched them disappear. It took only moments for her mount to break free from the ice she had formed and was now charging forward to throw her off.

Anna turned around just in time to see Elsa and her demonic mount disappear of the face of a cliff. She slipped free out of Kristoff's grasp and cried out after her sister; she ran to the edge and stopped just short to peer down at the ground.

There were blood splatters trailing all the way from the castle to the edge of the cliff. And a part of Elsa's sleeve from her enchanted had fallen from its wearer. She stumbled forward a few steps and looked over the edge of the cliff. Anna couldn't see the ground below, it was a giant, gaping abyss into nothingness.

A strangled gasp left her mouth as a creature brushed passed her with a toothy smile. It whispered down in her ears before giving chase after her older sister and the cursed mount she rode.

_"Death is not the greatest loss in life. It is what dies inside us while we live." _

* * *

Her vision blackened for a moment. She had bound herself to the demon by her ice. He stood on his hind legs to tear away but she conjured more to take over the ones he managed to snap. After noticing what she was doing he snarled and glared back up at her.

Then he started growing.

The ice that had been around his body shattered and, once free of his constraints, lunged forward nearly throwing her off; she yanked a hand against his fur and incased her entire body against his back. This sent him screaming in rage and he was running once more.

**'This is one _Hell of a ride_.'**

Elsa internally laughed at that out-of-moment thought she had.

The Aufhocker started bucking and ramming himself into the trees of the forest. Each one sent a jolt of pain coursing through her body but her powers kept her glued on throughout the ride. He started shrinking again and sprinting towards something she couldn't see.

They both landed in ice-cold water.

"Not going to work, stupid mutt." Elsa laughed and then started to gag on some water. Then all at once she was below the surface which was dangerous. She wasn't prepared, she hadn't any air to hold her breath with.

Moments later, they were rising back up out of the depths of the lake. Elsa forced her ride out of the water by using ice pillars and then froze the rest of the lake so there wasn't another repeat scenario.

_"I'm impressed, girl. You've managed to last longer than I was expecting."_

The Aufhocker shook his wet coat and collapsed down onto the ground. Elsa didn't know what he was plotting but it couldn't be good for her. So she took the time to freeze his body in a thick block of ice and secured herself more tightly to him. This earned her a guttural growl as amber eyes of the monster glared up at her.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just wanting to get a couple of things done while you were resting. You can go back to sleep." She felt the beast tense up underneath of her and strain against it but couldn't break free. Elsa saw a change in the creatures behavior, it was almost acting smug currently at the moment.

_"Tell me girl, how strong is your ice?"_

"Pretty strong, I guess? It depends on what I want-"

That was enough of an answer for the creature. It expanded its body once more and her magic that she had been using to reinforce the ice now trapped her legs against it. Two sickening snaps were heard. Elsa cried out in anguish and quickly dispelled the frozen water that was crushing her body but it was too late. Both legs were now broken and, on one of them, she could see her bone poking out of her skin spilling more of her blood. She froze the injury over and cried out in anguish when she made a makeshift tourniquet using her powers; The blond nearly bit her tongue off as she fixed them back into a straight position.

_"Think twice before using your damn magic powers on me again, girl."_


	7. Some Things Never Change

A bloody body was deposited on the ground in front of Anna. She gasped and ran forward to cradle her broken sister in her arms. There were cuts, gashes, bruises, and she was bleeding out from at least a dozen different places. Elsa shuddered once in her arms and then went terrible still. Kristoff had to reassure Anna that she was still breathing before they could leave to get help.

"C'mon Sven, she really needs us."

His sleigh had been destroyed on the way up here and there was no way his reindeer could carry three people on his back. Kristoff trusted Sven to carry the girls down the mountain and get the blond the help she was in desperate need of. Hopefully in time…

An affectionate pat to the rump of his friend and they were off. The sun had broken dawn but the snow storms that whipped around him effectively blotted out the light. He'd have to be careful that he didn't loose his balance.

Falling down the mountainside during a blizzard would be extremely dangerous.

* * *

Kristoff's one and only trusty steed knew his way back down the mountain to the village; he was making good time at it to. Sven needed to deposit these two quickly and go back for his friend. There were plenty of wild things daring enough to take on a hardened ice harvester and about a few small handfuls that could win. The beginning of the journey was quite slow but once they were low enough off the mountainside, the enchanted snow cleared way when subjugated to that of the troll's own magic.

The reindeer stood still just long enough for Anna to hop off and tenderly lift her sister off of his back; then he took off leaving the two ladies alone.

"Help!" Anna cried out and shivered; her sister was cold and limp in her arms. A light trail of frost traveled up her magenta cape and she shook it off.

**'My sister is going to die. There is no one here to help us.'**

Anna sighed and placed her sister on the ground. Her eyes roamed over Elsa's body until they stopped at her legs. Both of her sisters legs were covering her ankle and all the way up to her calf in some type of ice bandage. She skimmed a hand over the top of it.

"Don't touch that!"

Her hand jolted away and she snapped her eyes up to find the source of the sound.

**'Nothing but rocks.'**

"Child, your friend is injured and is greatly in need of help. May I have your permission to examine her?"

"By all means, please do," she replied instantly to the voice, "she's actually my sister and I'm afraid that she-that she's going to-" She couldn't finish the sentence. Her voice choked up at the thought of loosing Elsa.

"At ease, I will do everything that I can to help." reassured the voice. Anna sighed and looked down at the ground. That was when she finally took notice of a rather suspicious boulder that was moving towards her and stopped just before reaching her sister.

Anna freaked out and yelped in shock, "Gack!"

An amused expression crossed the boulder's face as he peered up at her. After receiving no response, he turned his back momentarily and waved a hand over the sleeping blond.

" I wonder?" the boulder spoke just barely audibly, "Do you know that your friend is gifted with powers, little one?" he then added quietly, "Strange, I know of but one person born with the powers of winter…"

"She has been terribly injured. I can only do so much; she will need rest and time to recover." a white light pooled from his hands and he let it seep down into Elsa's injured body. This strengthened her body and sped up her recovery period as well as improved her natural healing abilities. The rest; however, would be in need of bandages and binding for it to heal.

As the troll went about doing all this, Anna collected herself enough to speak again, "Is she alright? There were these monsters in the mountain and then one took off with her on its back!"

"Speak slowly child. Can you describe them to me?"

"They were big, grey, and ugly. They sort of looked like wolves, we have a taxidermy back at the castle, but they were different. And they snarled and growled; man, I thought she was going to die but this weird ice-harvester guy named Kristoff, let us ride his reindeer back here."

Anna heard a loud murmur break in and looked up to see a whole circle of weird boulder-like-creatures peer back at her. She gave a shy wave and they all smiled and waved back encouragingly.

"It sound's like you two were lucky. Those things you ran into are the physical manifestation of evil spirits. Some of them are created when an un-baptized newborn dies; others are created in darker ways…"

The troll was saddened as he thought of all the ways these corrupted souls were formed.

"All of them are dangerous and evil. These spirits are known to kill travelers but some drive a bargain with their victim- they would offer to spare your life if you but manage to ride them till the break of dawn- which is no easy feat; this is a challenge even the strongest and most cunning of men find themselves, more often than naught, losing. Your sister saved your life last night."

The troll stood up and away from the girl and looked at the crowd that had gathered around them, "We also have much to be thankful for, too. This girl saved the life of our son."

A cheer broke out from the trolls. Celebrations were in order, but more than that, these magical creatures always enjoyed using any good excuse to party.

* * *

She really enjoyed having fun and playing games with the troll creatures, honestly! But one of them was creeping her out, it seemed that everywhere she went she was being followed. Finally, after an hour of ducking and diving she confronted her stalker.

"Well well-well, hello Honey! what can I do for you!" The she-troll said.

Great, she hadn't actually got this far in her mind yet, she didn't know what she wanted to say.

"Oh, umm… You seem to, like, been wanting to talk to me or something-"

"Yes, I did indeed. So I've heard you met my boy Kristoff, hmm!" the troll woman waggled her brows, "did you like what you saw?"

**'Shit! I've literally walked myself right into this one.'**

Anna's voice wavered when she spoke, "He seems nice."

"Good, we can get the wedding underway then."

Anna sputtered completely speechless. When the troll started to walk away she knew she needed to call out after her or she would be a married woman.

"Nope, I'm alright. No need to trouble yourself."

"It would be no trouble at all."

Anna started to back away slowly, "Look, what I mean to say is, well, I don't think I want to marry him."

"Common, why are you holding yourself back from such a man? Sure he sounds grumpy when he talks, he walks a bit funny, and his feet are weird- have you noticed how squishy they are?" the troll took a few steps forward to catch up to the retreating redhead.

"I know his blond hair can be a bit of a turn off, not to mention he's got some flea problems, but I assure you he's the honest goods." The troll took another breath to get ready to rattle off her next list.

"No thank you, I can't marry a man I just met."

**'Wow, I think I understand where Elsa was coming from back then.'**

"You can if it's _true love_."

**'Honestly, that just ticked me off right now. Next time I see Elsa, I'll apologize because this feels really crappy.'**

"-And when you marry him, be sure to give him lots of hugs. The boy has this strange complex about him ever since he was abandoned as a kid but I know you'll make him really happy. You should know that he's a bit of a coward, not to mention his weird obsession with that reindeer of his- it breaks my heart thinking that I might never get any grandkids from him- oh, and I almost forgot, he only feels comfortable p*$$*#% in…-"

**'I SOooooo did not need to know that.'**

Anna desperately wanted to scrub her mind out with a loofa.

With her slow and steady retreat she had just gained enough distance to slip away from the one-way-conversation without being noticed. After getting far enough away, she beat a hasty retreat and repressed a shiver of disgust. It took a lot to get her to this point but she had reached it by now; Anna was threw with socializing for quite a while. The Princess was more than ready to retire for the remainder of that evening.

* * *

Elsa woke up. She'd rather have stayed asleep where the pain didn't seem to reach her but her body had other plans for her.

Her body turned to the side and she lost the contents to her stomach on the grass bed she had been resting on; Elsa rubbed her eyes and groaned as she waited out the next wave of nausea hit her. It would burn her throat if she threw up again. Instead, she dragged open her heavy eyelids to figure out just where she was at.

The base of the North Mountain stared back at her. She closed her eyes again.

"I see that you're awake now."

**'I've heard that voice before in the past.'**

Her mind worked slowly after just waking up from unconsciousness. A voice that she would never forget in her entire life was now hovering just along the fringe of her memory; furthermore, after sleeping for about an entire day, she felt completely exhausted and sapped of strength.

Elsa leaned forward and tried to rise up from where she lay when a hand pressed her back down again.

"No, you should lay back down. You're mind might be eager to rise but your body has not recovered." Again there was that voice that she couldn't seem to place anywhere. And then she heard another one; this one, unfortunately, she recognized immediately.

"Oh, Elsa! Elsa, you're awake!" The voice was too high and loud. That made her wince.

"Go away, Anna."

**'Some things must never change.' **

Elsa opened her eyes again and blinked several times to clear them.

She noticed a familiar troll staring down at her disapprovingly, "Is that anyway to talk to your sister, your Majesty?"

She shifted her gaze towards the right and saw Anna flitting around her; she was just about to go to her sister's side if it wasn't for the harsh welcoming she had received.

"She never should have came. I'll not stand to have her here with me; she needs to leave, now!"

The troll paused and looked up at Anna apologetically, "Your sister seems like she is still not feeling quite well yet. For her comfort and yours too, I think it is best if you leave for the moment."

_"She is always like this…"_

Anna left.

Elsa sighed in relief.

"What has become of you since I last saw you? You once placed your sister above all else; you loved and cherished her. I must ask you, why do you send your sister away when all she wants is to be assured of your safety and health?"

"I love her still but I'll not have you question me."

"I believe you." the troll sighed and decided to take a different route, "On the other hand, your Majesty, I have noticed a dark shadow that has fallen over you. I fear that there are deeper injuries inside of you then the ones you sustained last night." And then that was when she knew who he was. The troll was reaching down, undoubtedly to see into her mind for what ailed her, and Elsa flinched away.

**'My life went to Hell the last time he did that. I don't want anyone to see the scars!'**

"No, stop! You do not have permission to heal me any further than what you've already done."

He paused and realized that she knew; that she knew of this darkness that hovered over her. The princess was keeping dangerous secrets from him.

"I've been tasked by the King and Queen to assure that their daughters are to remain safe in my lands. And I have worn to obey the rulers of the kingdom."

"My paren-… They died a long time ago. I am now crowned sovereign ruler of Arendelle: As ruling Queen, I hereby revoke you of your duties!"

The troll had no choice but to retreat. He was confused on how something so pure could sink so far into darkness. He wanted to heal Elsa but it went against the nature of his people to help anyone that did not grant them permission. With nothing more he could do, the troll turned away. But not before adding, "I will send your sister in. I hope that she will be able to change your mind."

Elsa watched him leave and sighed. Once he was gone, the first thing she did was use her powers to grant her some modesty. Her powers were weak here but it was enough for her to enchant a dress and gloves into creation. When she was finished she could hear the shy approach of her sister's footsteps outside the door.

"Elsa, I think we should talk. I'm going to come in there now, is that okay?" Like she even had a choice, Anna was bound to enter the room- permission be damned.

Lovely sea-foam eyes peered at Elsa with concern.

"Are you okay?"

A bubble of laughter escaped her mouth, "Of course, never been better." It was almost an automatic response to run her hands down her arms to check to see if she had the gloves on.

**'They probably won't help for the most part- they being made from my ice-powers and all.'**

Anna didn't fail to notice this. After all she had seen in the last few hours she couldn't believe she hadn't pieced it together yet. "Is that why you wear gloves?" It wasn't even a complete sentence but it was enough for the both of them.

"Among many reasons."

Anna nodded and glanced over Elsa once more. Her eyes stopped at the ice-fashioned tourniquet that covered both her sister's legs.

"I'm fine."

"Elsa, what are those for?"

Elsa went silent again. This only increased Anna's worry.

"Let me see; I want to make sure you're alright!"

The Queen was nervous but she knew from the start that she could never refuse Anna. "It's not pretty, Anna. If you really want to you may see it, but I want you to leave immediately afterwards."

She cringed but stepped forward anyway, "Just a look, I promise, then I'll go."

Elsa looked away and thawed the ice from her legs. She didn't have to look to know that the liquid running down her legs wasn't only water. Her ice could never be that warm. She wondered whether or not the bone still showed or if she succeeded in setting it back into her body. Not a few moments later Elsa heard a gasp and a thud; looked up just in time to see Anna faint.

A quick glance at her leg answered her question.

"Wow, it's much worse than I thought." she joined her sister soon after.


	8. Until it Does

The troll king waited patiently by the door for the two sisters to finish talking. He hoped Anna could convince her sister to accept treatment from him. After waiting quite a while and not hearing anything from the room, he cracked the door open to peer inside. What he saw were the girls snoring loudly on the floor; the blond was in the bed while the redhead was on the ground.

_'Oh dear.'_

A/N: Muahaha it's a double back-to-back release. I hope all of my fellow readers are enjoying reading my story. Thank's for the reviews you've all given me.

I'd like some help in coming up with ideas on what'll be happening from here-on out. But as for right now, just kick back and enjoy the show-

Signing out!

* * *

The troll frowned.

"Grandfather Pabbie, I heard the sisters made it back here?"

He nodded, "Come here, my boy! It's good to see you alive and well." The troll shut the door quietly and turned to Kristoff, who had just made it back, and hugged him as best as he could being only a couple feet tall.

"I need you to do something for me that I can't at the moment." Pabbie grinned and rubbed his hands together.

* * *

Anna was having a wonderful dream; a bit odd though she had to admit.

She was back with her sister in the Ice palace on the North Mountain. Even with a blizzard raging outside she felt warm and safe. Elsa was giggling and conjuring up dozens of snowmen that spun around the room in dance.

And then suddenly there was chocolate; lots and lots of it.

Anna had to admit, this wasn't half bad even if she was dreaming.

"How are you feeling?" Elsa spoke but something was off about the way her voice.

'Huh, she sounds kind-of like a man.'

The blond narrowed her eyes vehemently at her sister, "Anna, my hand if not food. Ow, Dammit, let go of me!"

Anna noted the chocolate she had been eating was beginning to taste awful. In fact, she could swear it was covered with hair.

...

She woke up sputtering and gagging. Her eyes shot open and glared at Kristoff. He had a wet cloth bunched up in his hand and was cradling his other arm to his chest. A little crescent moon-shape peaked out just below the sleeve of his shirt.

"Are you awake now?"

"Yep, sorry for trying to eat you. I can get a little crazy right before I wake up."

"No kidding," Kristoff muttered ghosting a hand over the indent in his skin. He rocked back on his heels and shook his head slowly. "You know, I'm afraid to ask what you were dreaming of."

Anna was about to make a sarcastic comeback but stopped when she noticed Elsa was gone. "Where's Elsa?" she wondered aloud.

"That witch? She's worse than you when waking up."

"You do not get to call my sister that!" Anna hissed and turned to glare at him.

"Sorry, didn't mean any offense by it. Umm, well- when she woke up- the room was completely frozen over. She is definitely not used to strangers. I just about lost my arm; _Thank God_ I was wearing gloves at the time... Anyway, when she saw you sleeping here she requested to be moved to a different room."

"Why did you move her? She should've stayed here, I mean, did you see her legs? If anything, it should have been me moving."

"Legs?"

"Both. Of. Her. Damn. Legs. Are. Broken!" Anna growled out.

"Are they? It sure didn't seem like it. She was walking around like she was completely fine."

That was the last straw, "Where is she?" She asked beyond furious.

"Oh well, just a couple of doors down. Hey, wait!" The fiery redhead was already up and running out the door.

This place was remarkable, it was an underground network of caves. She didn't know which way to go until she stopped to look. There was ice on one end of the cave hallway she was standing in and it got progressively worse the closer it got to a particular door. Marching her way over there, she knocked on the hard grain before trying the doorknob.

She heard her sister whimper from the other side.

The door was frozen solid and most certainly not budging.

"Elsa, are you okay. It's me Anna!" besides stating the obvious, what else could she do? "I'm coming in." The Princess pushed as hard as she could against the door but it didn't move an inch. Finally, she knocked her shoulder hard against it and the door finally gave, not all the way, but enough so she could squeeze herself inside.

It was very dark inside so she couldn't see anything immediately; giving herself a couple of minutes to adjust, she was slowly able to make things out. There was a bed but Elsa wasn't on it. Instead, she was on the ground with her legs pulled into herself. A couple of sobs broke from her sister's direction, she could easily guess they were coming from her.

"Elsa?" she walked cautiously to her.

"Anna, you shouldn't be here."

"Like hell I shouldn't be!" Anna stopped and wrapped her arms around Elsa's shoulders. "I heard that you were up and walking, does that mean you're better now?" Her sister stiffened below her.

"Are you kidding me?" She growled, "Your going straight back to bed and I'm going to check your legs, once again, to make sure you didn't make them worse." As soon as she finished those words Kristoff, the belated prince-charming, had just managed to get the door open.

"Good, help me get her back in bed."

It took a little bit but Elsa was eventually wrestled back into the bed. The blond took the abuse in stride; she didn't even cry out when any of her legs were bumped or jolted during the exchange from floor-to-mattress.

"Kristoff, can you go get a towel and some bandages, please?" He ran off to do her bidding and the two sisters were left alone. Anna was fuming silently above her sister while Elsa was trying her hardest not to meet her gaze. She couldn't have shrunk anymore further into the mattress than she already had.

It didn't take long for him to come back, only a few minutes. He handed off the requested items to Anna who set them on the bed.

"Elsa, you need to thaw your dress a little bit as well as the ice on your legs so I can bandage them."

She did as was requested. Elsa heard another gasp but this time Anna managed to remain standing. The same couldn't be said about Kristoff who was lying on the ground now at their feet.

"Elsa, I'm not sure why it isn't infected by now. That looks really awful."

"I know, I'm sorry…"

"What I don't get is how you were able to walk; even with your powers, you are still freakin-able to defy all sensible law of physics. Both of your legs are broken and you're still prancing about as if nothing is wrong. That-is-not-normal."

Elsa was silent.

Anna was beginning to learn that her silences spoke louder than any of her words. "Elsa, I've had enough of this stupid silent treatment. You are going to talk to me now!"

They both flinched at her tone, but it was enough to get Elsa talking.

"I'm sorry; I-… Anna, it's not safe around me. My powers can hurt people. I can hurt you, and believe me, that's the last thing I want."

"Stop trying to distract me; I think I know how you did it, but my last question still holds. How were you able to walk?" Elsa stared at Anna for a couple of moments before breaking her gaze.

"My powers."

"Your powers can do a lot of things, Elsa. But you cannot. Stay off your leg until it heals,; Doctor's order."

Elsa laughed, "Okay."

"It's nice to hear you laugh," Anna said without even thinking. Elsa stopped but the Princess decided to continue speaking, "I am not even going to be able to understand just why you shut me out for all those years, but I want you to know I'm here for you. Even with all the trouble you've put me through, I still love you." Anna smiled so warmly that she wasn't able to register the words her sister just spoke. When she did, her heart froze.

"I'm a _monster_." Elsa whispered and dug her hands into the blanket underneath her.

"What," Anna gasped, "why would you say that?" When she didn't get an answer she started shaking Elsa's shoulders.

"Anna, you need to stay away from me. All I can do is hurt you."

"Is that what you think, that you bring me nothing but pain?" She pulled away and placed a hand on Elsa's broken leg, "You saved my life last night. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

"You wouldn't have been put in danger in the first place if it wasn't for me!" Elsa screamed this and started crying.

"Okay, maybe I wouldn't have or maybe I would have. Thinking about it too hard will only make it more complicated; so let's forget about the things that might have been and look at the things that are right in front of us right now- you've never hurt me before and I don't think you'll ever hurt me- be it now or in the future."

Anna had no idea of the storm twirling inside her sister at the moment. Of the guilt that laced through her sister in response to her oblivious words.

_**'Oh Anna, I have already have. I've hurt you so many times before in the past; one time, you were so far gone that we had no choice but to bring you here and erase all of your memories.'**_

Elsa's emotions were a raging blizzard coursing inside of her. Some of it escaped from her to dance around them as snow. Even with her self-directed rage the blond forced her voice to remain stoic, "You're right Anna. You're safe and that's all that matters." Some part of her wanted Anna to believe her words, but another wanted her sister to know she was lying. She wanted to think they were close enough to know when something was wrong with the other.

"Thank you, Elsa. See, it'll be alright." The redhead patted her sister's head and stood up. She was smiling again as she turned around to drag the unconscious man out of the bedroom. "I'll be back in a little bit, I just need to do a couple of things and take care of a certain 'someone'."

She walked out of the room totally forgetting that she hadn't bandaged her sister's leg up yet. Elsa froze her legs back up again and smiled painfully.

_**'I can't be here by the time she gets back. She'll want her sister and not the monster I truly am; I've long since lost the right to be that for her.'**_

A pool of blood had collected down below her from her injury, and as she moved to sit up, it ran off the side of the bed and onto the ground. This time, when she recreated her enchanted dress, it was dyed a bright vermilion.

She couldn't stay any longer. She didn't have as much time as it was.

When she was sure her sister must be far enough away to not interfere, Elsa brought her hand up and her magic twirled as it formed as a legend took shape. The cave walls shook as her creation roared and seethed in the confines of the small room. Before long Elsa had negotiated herself onto its back and they were navigating through the maze of underground tunnels towards freedom.

_Life's too Short_

_High in the sky looking down below_

_Life's too Short_

_Gazing at the mountainside above_

_Life's too Short_

_I've put you at risk one to many times_

_Life's too Short_

_To do that anymore._

* * *

Her body ached as she watched her sister flying away on the back of a giant dragon. The little stinker had waited long enough before she acted out her escape so that Anna wouldn't be able to stop her. At least she was following Doctor's orders about not being up and about on her leg.

Kristoff was just beginning to wake up when he felt a heavy sack being tossed on his stomach.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty. My sister's gone off and run away again. This time I'm going to tie her up with rope so she won't escape anymore. If she thinks that a mountains going to deter me from catching her, then she's got another thing coming."

"Anna, you should ride Sven once more; although, he won't be able carry us both. Plus, you'll reach her faster if you go alone." He felt the weight of the bundle being removed from his stomach.

"Fine then, give me back my rope. I'm going to go and catch myself an Ice Queen."

She didn't realize her target was being harpooned at this very moment and was being dragged back down the other side of the mountain towards Arendelle.


	9. Prince Charming's White Horse

Hans was relieved. He had thought she would've put up a fight, but after a few choice words, the Queen was easily captured. Even though she had quickly given up on resisting and even called off her ice dragon, he still had her harpooned for good measure. Once she was bound snuggly with ropes, he allowed himself to feel a little bit better and relaxed.

On the way back down, he debated whether he should slow the journey downhill just long enough to allow the Queen to bleed out and die. Then he would only have to contend with Anna and she would be easy to deal with.

On second thought, that wouldn't be such a wise thing to do. The people might accept him for now but even they were smart enough to be wary. They would begin to gossip on how such a thing as just a simple rescue mission could result in the loss of their ruling monarch.

Questions indeed…

The soldiers laughed and jabbed their hilted sword at the unconscious Queen. She wasn't so tough now that she had passed out for the moment. They would have continued their assault if it weren't for Hans; he made them stop so that he could hitch her up onto one of the backs of their sleds. It took time and was a bit of a walk; after all, they had parked their sleds far down the mountainside because it was hard to go uphill with them.

* * *

Anna, on the other hand, had reached the top several hours after they had left. The snow was coming down so hard that it had covered her fiancé's tracks in less than an hour. They had quite the head-start and were almost to the castle by now.

She dismounted Sven at the bottom of the steps leading to the castle and frowned.

The stairs were smashed in dozens of different places and the castle was missing a large portion out of the ceiling. It looked like their had been quite a bit of fighting but Anna just chalked it up to Elsa's dragon pummeling its way through the ice walls. She felt a bit of disappointment, the castle had been so pretty before, but now it was in dire need of repair.

Never mind that, she had other more important matters to attend to.

She tugged the rope off of her side and hid it behind her back in hopes that she could fool Elsa just long enough to capture her. The Princess tried her best to make her way quietly across the floors but it seemed with each step she landed on a different piece of crushed ice. The tiny snaps and pops echoed like a raging fire throughout the still castle.

Anna was getting impatient, "Elsa!?"

Seconds turned into minutes, but all she could hear was the sound of her own breathing. After waiting for a while she groaned. Anna had seen it with her very own eyes that Elsa and that dragon of hers had parked themselves up here. They were probably hiding in some room in the castle but it would take her a long time to search them out.

Or maybe not…

A long scraping sound sliced the air terribly slow. Wherever it was, tiny pebbles of ice-shards dropped from it and scattered away in all directions. A few of them succeeded in hitting Anna on her head and legs. After the din of noise had quit, a whip-like-sound cracked and pounded the sides of the castle making the structure shudder; the castle's colors shifted into that of a dark orange. Before Anna even had a chance to retreat, she was knocked over and sent tumbling across the ground. By this point, reasoning had been thrown out the proverbial window and survival reflexes kicked into full-throttle. With a dash she scrambled herself off the floor onto all fours and moved for the exit. She was making good time too until she ran head-first into something hard and stiff.

The entryway has disappeared.

That is what she thought at first until she really looked. Everything around her gleamed a bright orange except for the area right in front of her; directly ahead of her stood a silvery-white structure nearly indistinguishable from its surroundings. Anna prayed that, whatever it was, it hadn't have noticed her yet. Wishful thinking; her eyes landed on those of cold-ebony glaring with concealed hatred directed entirely at her.

* * *

Her mouth was dry and trying to wet it with a sweep of a tongue didn't mend the problem. She tried opening her eyes and found that she couldn't and when she opened her mouth something blocked the entrance. Elsa prodded the obstruction with her mouth, trying to identify the problem, and it was then she realized that she was gagged and blind-folded.

Elsa cried out in alarm, "Mmph!"

"Morning, your Majesty! I see you're awake now, pity, I had hoped we'd make it back to Arendelle before you regained your senses."

She recognized the voice but was to groggy to put a name to it. Elsa could do nothing but remain silent. Her feet rested against a hard surface that would jolt and sway in its movement; she could also hear the squeal of lacquered wood and wheels. Elsa must have been on a cart of some kind and her guess was affirmed when a horse whinnied.

"What's wrong, cat got your tongue?" That same voice replied smugly from right next to her. The banter of men that had been going on in the background died away into silence. The loss of her eyesight and was one of the worst feelings she had ever experienced; she could feel her fear forming ice on her clothes. That was when she noticed how sore her body was and that she was bound in rope.

The man didn't like the fact that ice had started forming around her; furthermore, the snow started to pick up and fall down even harder than before. Hans thought it was about time to put the Snow Queen back to sleep, so with a swing of arm, the broadside of his sword cracked against the back of her head. As she fell over unconscious once more, a chorus of laughter broke the midday sky.

* * *

"What the hell do we do in this situation?"

"There's no protocol for this; besides, how can we be really sure that it was the Queen who sent him?"

"I'm sure he just randomly formed from on top the mountain and came down for a pleasant cup of tea. Don't be an imbecile, I'm sure no one else can reanimate snow but our Majesty!"

They peered once more out of the castle gates and shook their head disapprovingly. For good measure, several soldiers crossed themselves and sent up a prayer for the fate of the kingdom. After debating, they'd come to the conclusion that they would open the gates to let him in and figure out what to do from there.

So up came the gates and a cheerful little snowman beamed up at the kingdom he'd been entrusted with, "Wow, I've never run my own kingdom before. Their's too much gray from the stone and white from the snow. Maybe some Yellow? Ugh, nope, yellow and snow-covered castles soooooo do not mix- I know! How about some purple or maybe red? Whoa, Hi there. I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs! Oh look, I've been impaled..."

* * *

A battle between a brave lioness and a dragon played itself out. Of course, it went as to be expected when the weapons you had on you neither inflicted much damage or weren't in the least bit effective against ice. The rope had come in handy, but it had only served to aid the further destruction of Elsa's Ice Palace for the dragon's struggles against the strong coils that bound it caused it to thrash about wildly. It only ceased when it had released itself by freezing the coils, breaking the brittle bonds apart, now there was nothing holding it back.

Anna was terrified of her sister's newest creation; it didn't seem to have any inhibitions on hurting people- considering she was bleeding from a few places and her entire body was covered in black bruises. Not to mention she was cornered and the dragon was glowering down at her with its maw open ready to deliver its final blow.

Wings poised above in a predatory raptor-like fashion.

She squealed and tried to dive out from underneath it, but was quickly pinned by a foot. When she craned her neck to the side to look up, the dragon was still staring at her but had his head cocked to the side. It was the lack of air that she was getting that finally broke Anna from her spell.

"Get off of me you stupid overgrown lizard, I-can't-breathe!" She gasped out; however, Anna didn't figure the brute would listen to her. The weight that had trapped her was quickly released and she sputtered trying to recover from her whole affixation ordeal.

"Do you know where Elsa is?" Anna asked. Could her sister have created another intelligent creature?

The dragon nodded and opened its mouth, "Saeee es iiend Aeelaaadallee!" It blasted loudly and beat its wings in frustration.

"Ow! My ears are going to be ringing for a while. Let's just stick with the headshakes, it that okay?" The thing had proven itself intelligent enough for Anna to trust; however, she was still full of Adrenaline from the fight that they had gotten over moments ago. Maybe it would take a bit for her to warm up to Elsa's newest creation.

"Eel-a es taekkn biie viele men. Tay urt Mumma eand viele men leev witt er." The dragon shook with rage, "man cal Hans tak er eand cal er m-ssstr. Mn-sttrrr. Mnne-sss-tear! "

"Whoa, slow down. Don't hurt yourself, now, you said something about Hans?" The creature nodded, "Good, he must've come looking for me. If she's with him, then they're both safe." A look of shock crossed the dragon's features. "Hey, don't give me that look. And besides, I would know this better than anyone; he is my fiancé and all!"

"Ey foegette. Mumma tel me datt Anna es vayree stewpidd en cray-zsea."

"I don't know what you said but I am sure it wasn't nice. Now, we need to get back down this god awful mountain and go find my stinker of a sister. We should leave soon to catch up with them unless you object?"

"Mumma tel me nawt tue listn tue peple cept Anna an Mumma. Shea tel me nawt tue -urt peple."

"I didn't hear any objections- or at least I think so- good! Let's go; you think that you might be able to carry me down?"

"Anna vayree faatt fum chocolate. Vayree -evee"

"Figures, that one of the only words you could pronounce well would be that one. I'll just take that as a yes, although, you're not making a lot of since. And I thought Olaf was bad... Ah, I'll just climb your back here and we'll be off on our way-yy-yyy! "

A most unflattering squawk left her mouth as the dragon shot upwards into the sky. Her hands, clenched with terror, shot out to find any place that she could hold onto and secure herself.

It might have been short, but it was one scary ride!


	10. Instinct

A/N: Hello and thank you for continuing to read. This chapter is a little short and for that I apologize; however, I promise the next update will fulfill quite a few of your questions and needs. So keep your I out for it. As always thanks for the reviews you've given me, your feedback is encouraging and important.

Without further ado here's the next chapter, Signing out!

It was dark; like the kind that suffocated and choked its victims. And there was pain all over her body. She was gasping by this point but even that wasn't enough to support her in this stuffy environment. In panic she released her ice from the tips of her fingers.

Pins and needles dug into her hands tearing them apart.

It was too dark here to see much of anything, but their was just a little window that brought in the moons light. That was just enough to see the chains and the gauntlets that wrapped around her hands. The magic that she had expelled must not have been able to get past the material; instead, it condensed into jagged ice on the edges of the barrier. Her hands felt raw and shredded.

Elsa stilled as a bout of nausea rolled across her stomach. After all she had been through in the past twenty-four hours, she was drained of all her energy. Which would explain why she didn't hear the sound of Hans' approach.

""You will stop this winter." Said a voice, that scary voice from the entrance to the dungeon. Her eyes stung when a fiery torch entered the room; she shielded her head between her knees.

"I can't." Elsa whimpered.

"I know; you said the same thing back at your little ice-palace, but now I'm not giving you an option anymore."

"I can't, I don't know how. Please!"

"Maybe you just need a little persuasion." The prince motioned for someone behind him. A man came in with a box inside and plopped in on the floor. He bent down and opened it up to reveal wicked tools mostly used for interrogation. Elsa knew what they were for and gulped.

Ice crept up the sides of the walls and the temperature plummeted.

"Stay away from me, I don't want to hurt you!"

Her pleas went unheard. And after a couple of minutes, they changed to screams.

* * *

Her hair fluttered in the air behind her as azure skies were belted by giant frost-wings. To the peasants and farmers below it looked as if their princess was soaring across the sky. Her mount was completely crystalline to the point of being see-through. Anna giggled as a couple of startled cows mooed disdainfully and fled away.

"Good, you see that castle up there? You're going to have to land nearby but not close enough so the people freak out completely. I mean, you're a dragon and all, which is awesome by the way, but there's all these stories about dragons pillaging the villages and demanding princesses from castles, and… Oh god, I'm rambling again aren't I?"

The dragon only gave a snort of acknowledgement as it spat out a snowball; which just so happened to coincidentally peg a little farmer's boy in the head.

"Not cool."

The creature rolled its head and began its decent to the edge of the castle grounds. Which was right before the outskirts of the city started. Anna slid off his back and skidded down a snow pile before turning around.

"Thank you! You should probably stay here and don't come startle anyone. You'd freak the people out and I don't even know what'll happen from there; so stay hidden, okay?"

"Ana fyn Momma?"

"Yes."

"Me whaitt 'ere?"

"Yes?" Anna asked a little more unsure.

"Kay, go fyn Momma. Me whaitt 'ere." As if to prove her point, it laid down on the ground and crossed its lithe arms.

Anna started to walk away while narrowing her eyes at the dragon," You go and do that. I'll be back and I expect you to be right here when I return, alright?" She couldn't wait any longer and turned around to make her way to the castle.

After the Princess was out of eyesight the dragon stood up to her full height and cackled, "Finally, that dumb bimbo is gone. I can't believe she expects me to wait here and do nothing while that vile man befouls dearest-mother with his presence; however, I do believe there's a village I have to go pillage. After all, I am a dragon."

The dragon disappeared down the other edge of the hill and slid all the way down right into the middle of the city-square. A most delightful chorus of screams greeted her arrival. But she kept her wits about her. The dragon limited herself to just half an hour of playtime before she followed after Elsa's little sister.

* * *

Olaf's first decree as acting ruler was to order a dozen carrots to be presented before him; his had become a little rotten over time. He giggled like a kid as he sorted through all of them trying to find himself the 'perfect nose.' Little did he know that an usurper was torturing the Queen down below. And little did the usurper that Elsa had ordained a backup ruler for while she was out of commission.

It had taken a while for him to be accepted as acting head but his persistence paid off. Stabbing him and cutting him did little to nothing, he would just reform, so eventually they just gave up. Who besides Elsa could create snow and ice? The answer was obvious and until the council had her back, they could do little about the state of things.

The little snowman seemed harmless for now...

* * *

Elsa shied away from Hans, but he forced her head up to look at him. He glanced away for just a second as the man was putting the bloodied tools away.

"You can go but don't get too comfortable. I may need you back soon."

"I'll be waiting," came the reply as the man left the room being careful not to trip over the thick ice that lined the floor.

"Elsa," he said and saw her visibly shudder, "you will stop this winter, sooner would be better, whether you like it or not. I'm not one to play games like this with you here and I always win in the end."

"I don't know-I don't know- I don't kn-"

Hans cut her off with a sharp jerk to her head again. A hand wound her braid up and yanked, "Yes, you've made that clear." He hissed and spat on her, "As soon as you've figured out 'how' I'll end your miserable existence; but trust me, you'll be begging for it!"

She merely continued her mantra and the Prince finally pulled away disgusted.

"I suggest you use this time trying to stop the eternal winter you've placed over Arendelle. My friend and I will be back in a couple of hours."

He finally left her at peace. Elsa rested against the far back corner of the room, her body was taxed, and fell into a restless slumber.

In the darkness of the cell, a pair of amber eyes settled on her sleeping form.


End file.
